Rabbi Yehuda (Yudi) Dukes, director of JNet, a Hasidic program that provides weekly over-the-phone Torah study sessions, was hospitalized after being diagnosed with coronavirus and is on a ventilator, Chabad.org reported last week. Dukes is well-known in the Jewish community around the world. Thanks to his profound dedication and natural gift for languages, he has read the Torah in synagogues around the world, from Budapest to Buenos Aires, usually addressing worshipers in their native tongue. After experiencing coronavirus symptoms, the usually healthy 38-year-old was taken to the New York University Hospital in Manhattan where his condition deteriorated to the point that he was sedated, intubated and ventilated two months ago, Chabad.org reported. During his stay at the hospital, his wife and six children remained quarantined at home. “I have nothing else to do but turn to G‑d and ask Him to give me more strength,” his wife, Sarah Dukes, posted to social media. “I know he's going to be OK in the end, and the nurses have been so reassuring, but I miss him so much. Hearing my 2-year-old son ask his father why he's not talking back to him over the phone and that he wants him to sing to him completely broke me inside.” Sarah's posts are heartbreaking, but even in the worst of times, she remained a pillar of faith, and has attracted thousands of comments and reactions to her posts. As the news spread across the globe via social media, individuals, some of whom knew the rabbi and others who did not, were inspired to pray for him and send their prayers and love to the family. Nurses and medical staff have stepped up to convert his sterile hospital room into a homey presence, plastering the walls and windows with handmade posters, pictures and letters. Several people have come to the hospital offering to help however they can. People have been coming on a daily basis to help the rabbi put on tefillin, even when unconscious, play voice messages from friends and family and fill the room with Hasidic tunes, all in an effort to create a sense of home, in the most unexpected of places. Other people seem to have been inspired by the story and Sarah's resolve and faith. Thousands wrote to the couple, describing reaffirmed and newly-discovered faith. Some even wrote about good deeds that the couple's story had inspired them to perform. These inscriptions will all be collected and included in a book that will be presented to Dukes upon his recovery.
New York University banner(photo credit: NYU PHOTO BUREAU)