Chaim Ber Meisels Loses His Battle with Cancer at 45

 

Reb Chaim Ber Meisels, known for his giving heart, his perpetual joie de vivre and his passion for philanthropy, lost his battle with cancer over the weekend, passing away at the age of 45.

A longtime member of Williamsburg’s Satmar community, Meisels had a unique ability to connect with Jews from all across the religious spectrum, offering a kind word and going above and beyond to assist in situations of all kinds.

A mover and a shaker whose capacity for helping a fellow Jew was seemingly boundless, Meisels loved encouraging others to step up to the communal service plate, heralding them for their accomplishments without taking any credit for himself.

“He was always able to smell out who was in need,” Yoel Friedman of WellTab told VIN News. “He would approach people in shul, asking them how he could help and people would spill their hearts. He didn’t wait for people to come after him – he ran after the mitzvah.”

Friedman was the beneficiary of Meisels’ efforts in the early days of COVID when he created WellTab to keep hospitalized patients in touch with their families by providing them with free to tablets to facilitate communication.

Finding himself with a concept that he knew would benefit patients and their loved ones, Friedman had no way of raising the funds he needed to get WellTab up and running.

“I knew him as a person of chesed, but I didn’t know to what scale,” recalled Friedman. “While he didn’t normally get involved with organizational causes, his heart woke up to those locked in hospitals, behind closed doors, and started a fundraising campaign. The second he put his fingers on this, money started pouring in and he brought in tens and tens of thousands of dollars within a few days.”

In his signature style, Meisels’ support for the cause was about more than just donations.

“He needed to know how else he could help, what else he could do,” said Friedman. “He set up a team of volunteers to set up devices, another team to distribute them in neighborhoods and another to take the devices into hospitals. With the click of a button, he got it done.”

Despite his dedication to the community, Meisels was extremely involved with his family, making sure to give them his attention even as he looked after others. He lived to bring cheer to everyone he met, the smile in his voice inspiring people to go the extra mile in their efforts to help those facing difficult times. Whether it was taking on a high level project or distributing pizza at a melava malka, Meisels was there, with no job too big or too small.

Even as recently as this past Pesach when he was already sick and in pain, Meisels still managed to rise to the occasion.

Yoely Breyer recalled going to visit Meisels, who was in terrible pain, when the doorbell rang, with Rav Yoel Fuchs, Meisels’ partner in tzedakah, arriving to see his friend. With the two spending hours raising vast sums of money each year to benefit those who couldn’t afford to pay for their Pesach needs, Meisels initially chose to ignore the bell, knowing that he was too sick to make the necessary phone calls. But a few moments later, he changed his mind, inviting Fuchs in to see him, while insisting he wasn’t going to make any calls. That commitment lasted all of five minutes, with Meisels sitting up in his bed asking “who are we calling first?” and explaining that he wanted to prove to himself that his illness wouldn’t stop him from helping others. Despite his weakened state, Meisels managed to bring in thousands of dollars in donations.

While Williamsburg is typically quiet during the summer, especially on weekends, hundreds of people attended the first of two funerals for Meisels, held at 9 AM on the morning of August 7th at the Satmar shul on Myrtle Avenue.

Another large crowd gathered just hours later at the main Satmar beis medrash in Kiryas Joel for a second funeral, both packed with mourners from all walks of life who came to pay tribute to Meisels before he was laid to rest in the new Satmar cemetery in Monroe.