Mitch Morrison

The Rivkin family Pearl Chana Rivkin hails from the Toronto neighborhood of Thornhill, where her family settled in 1991 to be part of a dynamic community with more than 800 religiously observant households and countless minyanim. The shul she belonged to, familiarly known as the BAYT (Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto), was impressively welcoming.

It’s a cool winter Shabbat morning. Donned in his tallit, Moshe Stareshefsky is davening in his customary seat (makom kavua) at the Young Israel of Passaic-Clifton when his hand-held Hatzolah radio suddenly vibrates. Calmly and without disruption, Moshe heads out and within minutes is responding to an emergency call. At the resident’s home, the 44-year-old Passaic native checks key vitals before summoning the local Hatzalah ambulance.

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