Hundreds Turn Out to Farewell ‘Angel of Chessed’

A large crowd attended the funeral of Rabbi Avraham Lider, who helped thousands of Crown Heights residents and guests over decades through his Ahavas Chessed organization.

Photos: Shmulik Reinitz/Anash.org

A large crowd attended the funeral of Rabbi Avraham Lider, who helped thousands of Crown Heights residents and guests over decades through his Ahavas Chessed organization.

He passed away on the first night of Rosh Hashana after experiencing a heart attack.

Through Ahavas Chessed, which he founded, Rabbi Lider helped many thousands of Crown Heights residents with medical needs, including medical advice and consultation and all sorts of assistance from arranging rides to providing hot meals to patients in hospitals and at home.

He also assisted the many guests who visited Crown Heights every year, including shluchim and bochurim spending their year learning in 770 or local yeshivos. Rabbi Lider would frequently cover the costs of treatments himself, if the patient was unable to afford it or did not have adequate medical insurance.

In the recent months during the height of the coronavirus pandemic, Rabbi Lider spent hundreds of hours assisting coronavirus patients and their families. He also helped arranged numerous blood and plasma drives in the Crown Heights community to replenish blood banks which were at dangerous lows, and to have residents donate plasma to help coronavirus patients.

Rabbi Lider also served as the Jewish Chaplain in Kings County Hospital.

In recent days he launched his annual campaign and was in midst of planning for new programs and his Erev Yom Kippur appeal when he suddenly passed away.

He is survived by his wife Temah, and children Dovid Lider (Crown Heights), Naftali Lider, (Crown Heights), Shmuly Lider (Crown Heights), Bassy Lider (Crown Heights), and Tzippy Janowsky (Toronto, Canada).

He is also survived by his siblings, Shlomo Lider – Williamsburg, NY, Yaakov Lider – Melbourne, Nechama Brichter – Yerushalayim, Eretz Yisroel, Malka Kaplan – Yerushalayim, Eretz Yisroel, Yehuda Lider – Yerushalayim, Eretz Yisroel.