TORONTO — Edie Kalb finds comfort in knowing she’s helping youngsters with learning disabilities through the Lev Chaim Foundation educational grant established in memory of her son, Brian. The scholarships were awarded this year for the first time.
Brian, who had a learning disability himself, died in his sleep two years ago at age 32 of atrial fibrillation, a heart arrhythmia.
His parents – Edie and her husband, Jack – and their daughter, Lisa Parshan, who lives in Detroit, were struck by the outpouring of affection after Brian’s death.
Seven hundred people attended his funeral, and for a year, flowers arrived at his parents’ home every Friday from his friends. A former schoolmate recalled on a Facebook memorial site that Brian stood up to bullies who were tormenting the younger child. He threatened them verbally, and they never returned.
Brian “was really a selfless guy,” Edie said in an interview, recalling the time Brian saved someone’s life by performing the Heimlich manoeuvre. He also brought at least one friend back to religion, she said.
“My son was a very humble person. He made friends with everybody. He was honest, warm, unaffected, and deeply religious. He had this magical personality that drew people in.”
Initially, the family decided to memorialize Brian by donating a Torah to Congregation Kahal Yereim, the small shul he attended.
But family and friends not only raised enough money for the Torah, they exceeded their target, leading them to consider what to do with the extra funds.
A committee – including Kahal Yereim’s Rabbi Shlomo Bixenspanner and two special education teachers – decided that two scholarships of up to $1,600 each would be provided to two children – a boy and a girl – with learning disabilities, who were attending Orthodox Jewish day schools in the GTA.
There is currently enough money in the foundation to fund the scholarships for about seven more years, Kalb said.
The goal was to use the money to help the recipients succeed, by helping pay for things such as remedial services or socialization opportunities, she added. “One family needed a computer. That is so easy to fix.”
People with learning disabilities can “go as far as anyone else,” said Edie. “You just need to find different paths.”
This year, the foundation received 18 applications. The committee split the girls’ scholarship among two recipients, one at Tiferes Bais Yaakov and one at Bnos Bais Yaakov, and one boy, a student at Yeshiva Yesodei Hatorah. The Kalbs requested that the students’ names not be published, to respect their privacy.
Brian was one of the first students at the Dr. Abraham Shore She’arim Hebrew Day School, which served children with learning disabilities and was closed in 2008.
Brian left the school at 15 and attended public high school and then yeshiva, eventually deciding he wanted to live an observant lifestyle.
Although the Kalb home had always been kosher, it was only after Brian decided to become observant that his parents changed their lifestyle also. His sister, Lisa Parshan, who lives in Detroit, had already become more religious.
At the time of his death, Brian was working as a driver for a linen supply store. Because of his outgoing nature, he loved being able to meet so many people through his work, his mother said.
Prior to that, he studied food and beverage management, and also worked at a bank.
“Lev Chaim” means “Chaim’s heart.” The name recalls in part Brian’s way of “living with a big heart,” his mother said. The foundation is a registered charity.
More information is available at levchaimfoundation.com.
