NEW YORK, July 17 (UPI) -- A rabbi came to the rescue to give a New York City woman her dying wish -- to see her son's bar mitzvah.
Judith Fertig, suffering from ovarian cancer, wanted to see her son Rafi's bar mitzvah, but doctors at Mount Sinai Medical Center said it would not be possible, the New York Daily News reported Sunday.
Rabbi Areyeh Oberstein met in the hospital Fertig's brother, Aaron Braunstein, the New York radio host and boxing promoter.
"Didn't you bring boxing matches to the USS Roosevelt and USS Eisenhower when they were in Haifa?" asked Oberstein. "I was an officer on those ships."
Braunstein asked Oberstein if he could do something about the bar mitzvah.
Oberstein quickly arranged for the bar mitzvah be held in the hospital's small synagogue. Kosher food was ordered, a klezmer band hired, guests invited and a beautiful new black dress was purchased for Judith Fertig.
The mother of four smiled throughout the ceremony. She died 12 hours later.
