This past Shabbat, after the children went to sleep (and we finished stuffing our faces), my wife and I (and my in-laws…we hosted them) went over to the couch to kibbitz and read. There are many journals, newspapers and magazines that are published here and since we are such an international household, we have a vast variety of them and Shabbat is as good a time as any to catch up on our reading. As I was flipping through the pages of a local French magazine that is published (in Ashdod) monthly, the name “Ezra Schwartz (zatzal)” caught my attention. To me, it was really amazing to see an article published in French and distributed in Israel about Ezra, a Sharon, MA native. As the original news reports about Ezra were tricking out, I immediately felt a connection to him since we were from the same (small) hometown and shared the same last name. I haven’t been able to get him out of my mind since. His murder hit very, very close to home. What continues to amaze me about this young man is his love for Israel. The article starts off my telling a great story of how Ezra, along with some of his friends, donated the money they received for their Bar-Mitvahs (in 2010) to purchase a “Hatzalah” scooter in Israel. These scooters are often the first on a scene of a trauma, terror attack or car accident. They provide vital first aid and medical assistance. It goes on to say that Ezra participated in one of the most magnificent mitzvas, “to save one life is to save humanity”. Such a selfless and generous act for such a young boy. This is just one of many “mitzvah and chessed” stories I have read about Ezra. May we all learn and merit from Ezra’s generous soul and may his memory be a blessing.