An estimated 100 women and girls gathered at a Brooklyn, N.Y., synagogue to honor a deceased friend in the form of music, using the proceeds from the concert to benefit an Israeli orphanage.
The Aug. 9 concert at Congregation B’nai Jacob in the Park Slope section of the city featured 10 classically-trained young female musicians who performed to strengthen the music program at Lev Lalev, a girls’ orphanage in Netanya, Israel. It coincided with the second anniversary of the passing of Toby Eagle, a 20-year-old native of Baltimore, Md., and aspiring violinist who spent her summers working as a counselor at the Camp Gan Israel run by Chabad-Lubavitch of Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Jacqueline Novikov, an organizer of the event and one of its soprano vocalists, said that the performers chose to benefit Lev Lalev, whose name means “heart to heart,” because of its music program.
“By studying music, children gain access to a whole new type of thought process that is relevant not only in music,” explained Novikov. “The gift of music is a valuable tool to be used throughout life.”
The concert’s ensemble included Melissa Baker on cello, Ruth Leiter and Devra Seidel on piano, Antonia Nelson and Tzippy Wecker on violin, Jacqueline Novikov and Laura Rosen Puzio singing soprano, and Jennifer Rohr on the viola.
After the concert, guests, who included musical performers, friends of the Eagle family and local community members, participated in a raffle to win an iPod.
All of the donations were made in the name of Eagle, who perished in a car accident on her way to the Chabad House in South Carolina to spend Shabbat.
Rohr, who is a close friend of the Eagle family, noted a special connection between Eagle’s life and the concert.
“Toby used to play violin and we actually performed a piece that was commissioned by Toby’s mother,” said Rohr. “Toby also used to work with orphanages in Israel.
“Both of her grandmothers came, and even her aunt from Colorado,” she continued. “It was very meaningful.”
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