Hello, thanks for visiting this page.
In August of 2016 and 2017 I had the honor of participating in Bike4Chai., a 180-mile bike ride to raise funds for Camp Simcha. a wonderful camp for kids with cancer. I took a break this past summer, as I was recovering from spinal surgery.
On Monday, December 17 I will be undergoing heart valve surgery, but my doctors expect that with G-d’s help I’ll be back on my bike soon. (In fact, my cardiologist, who rode in Bike4Chai this past summer, offered to ride with me this coming summer.)
Getting back in shape for a 180-mile bike ride after open heart surgery will not be a simple task. But it’s nothing compared to the challenges faced by the special kids at Camp Simcha. Won’t you help me help them by sponsoring my ride?
In my two previous rides I raised over $11,000 each time. But I skipped a year so I have to make up for lost time. My goal this year is to raise $25,000.
This year I am dedicating my ride in memory of my father, Harry Seplowitz, who passed away at the age of 41 of pancreatic cancer, and my mother, Nancy Seplowitz Prague, who passed away three years ago at the age of 89.
[It is especially meaningful to me to ride in memory of my father. I had a very interesting experience during the 2017 ride. I was riding on a path in a park, and up ahead I saw a large white bird in the middle of the path. It was perhaps two or three feet tall. The bird took off and flew ahead of me for around 10 seconds, and then it veered off the path and flew away.
Although I had never seen one before, I am pretty sure that the bird was a heron. The reason I found that significant is that the name Seplowitz, actually Tzepliavich, is Russian for “Son of a Heron.”
So there I was, the son of a man named Seplowitz who had died of cancer at a young age, riding to raise money to help young cancer patients. And there was a heron, my “namesake,” flying along with me.
Is there any deep symbolism there? Who knows?! Maybe it wasn’t even a heron!!! But it certainly gave me pause to think about the connection between my father’s untimely passing and the effort to help young people with cancer.]
I’ll be very honest with you. I have no idea where I’m going to find $25,000 for this great Mitzvah. But maybe you do. Share this with your friends on Facebook and elsewhere. (Feel free to forward the link to this page.) Maybe you can help me find corporate sponsors.
Let’s work together to bring Simcha (Joy) to the kids at Camp Simcha.
How do I donate to sponsor the ride?
In early January when the ride officially opens up, I will have a page where you can donate directly. When that happens, I will put the link on this page.
Alternatively, you can mail your tax-deductible check to me, payable to Bike4Chai, and I will see that it is appropriately processed. Or, if you prefer, send me an email now, and i will send you the link when the page is live.
You can send your check to Bike4Chai c/o Rabbi Yerachmiel Seplowitz, 5 Glenmere Court, Monsey, NY 10952.
Learn more about Camp Simcha here. Learn more about Bike4Chai here.
Thank you in advance. May you and everyone you love always be blessed with good health.
Rabbi Yerachmiel Seplowitz
P.S. I will continue to update this page with links to allow you to donate directly, as well as updates as to how I’m doing, with G-d’s help, with my recovery and training.
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Torah Talk 