By COLlive reporter
Mendel Brikman, a young father and member of the Crown Heights community, passed away on Hoshana Rabbah, 21 Tishrei, 5777.
He was 43 and had been battling a terrible illness for some years.
Mendel was known for his friendly manner and was a beloved member of Bais Shmuel Chabad and the Crown Heights community.
Mendel, who was the original owner of Sterling Electronics on Kingston Avenue, impacted many around the world with the courage and faith he showed while ill.
Recently, he helped a 90-year-old Jewish man receive a Bar Mitzvah while they were in rehab together.
He is survived by his wife, Toby (nee Goldstein) and children Yossi, Isser, Ari, Doba, Chaim and Zalman.
He is also survived by his parents, Kalman and Shulamis Brikman, and siblings Sara Liba Levin – Crown Heights, Yossi Brikman – Crown Heights, Avremel Brikman – Crown Heights, Chana Friedman – Pittsburgh, Hindy Bortunk – Miami, Yisroel Brikman – Crown Heights, and in-laws Colonel Yankel and Seema Goldstein.
UPDATED:
The levaya will take place today, Sunday, ONLY PASSING BY 770 at 1:00 pm.
Shiva will be starting on motzei Yom Tov.
At 1365 Carroll Street. Apt 1D. Men enter from carroll and women from the alley between carroll and president.
Baruch Dayan Ha’emes.
This is terrible news, and there are really no words. As someone who knew Mendel when he was a bochur in Sydney and then was privileged to spend time with him and his family in Crown Heights after, I can also attest to his wonderful personality, menschlichkeit, intelligence, and ability to raise the spirits of others through his warmth and sunny love for life… hamakom yenachem eschem.
Chana – No words. So much pain. Hashem should give you and all your family strength. Too much to bear.
Fellow Pittsburgher
Mendel Brikman your beautiful and loving presence will be missed. You were a light and your love made a difference in the lives of many, more than you realized. The world is a better place from your love. May your beautiful parents and your wonderful wife and children and all who love you be comforted among the mourners of Zion and Yerushalyim.
When I lived in Crown Heights 15 years ago, I went into Sterling Electronics a few times. From just those few times, his kindness is memorable. May his family be comforted. may we all be reunited with him with Moshiach Now!!
Be”e
Oy, Mendel… What a warm, caring, selfless person, a chaver of many years. May Hashem comfort his family and send us Mashiach so that we may all be reunited with our loved ones.
Doba we love you and are thinking of you!!
Your CLR family!!!
Hamokom yenachem eschem.
Toby, 9 years ago I worked in your classroom briefly (in Mosdos). I was newly married and I clearly remember the way you spoke about your husband a’h and the love and care you had for one another. Your beautiful marriage has always stayed with me, as you and husband a’h represented such a loving, complete bond. May Hashem give you strength….thinking of you, Sara Loewenthal
Doba we love u were all her for u!
BR ninth grade
So sad. What a great man! Moshiach now!
Mrs. Brikman, Sara Liba & Chani;
so terribly sorry to hear about your loss of the untimely passing of your brother; Mendel A”H. May he be a ‘Malitz-Yashar’ for all of Klal Yisroel, demanding an immediate END to this dark never-ending painful 🙁 Galut.
Moshiach YESTERDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
-Yossi & Devorah Lipsh Israel
Mendel was everyone’s best friend. He made you feel that he loved you, cared about you and was willing to help. In his presence, the conversation wasnt about him but about you. Amazing how many people felt he was their brother…. What a loss to the world.
May his family have the strength they need to continue his holy life.
Mendel my friend since childhood , the pain is like a close family member ! i wil miss him dearly !
He was a wonderful father, husband, friend. So sad.
no words
where ia the shiva going to be?
Mendel A’H was a kind older brother to us few local teenage boys in Sydney when he was on shlichus. He had his kind words, smile and made you feel like his brother. He really was someone we wanted to be with and emulate. Thank you Mendel.
We love you Doba!
We were classmates 6-8th grade at ULY, later again in OT. Mendel was always the big guy, he was built, solid and strong – in more ways than one. Even in his illness, perhaps especially in his illness, his incredible inner strength and faith shone forth in a dazzling way. The thing that I loved about him most was how he was a working down to earth Chassidishe youngerman. He built a business from scratch, was very invested. He had a chayus in a Chassidishe vurt, loved a story, his eyebrows would rise up, his finger would point, jab away,… Read more »
Mendel my friend since childhood , the pain is like a close family member ! i wil miss him dearly !
Heart broken. Mendel was my classmate and freind. A heart of gold was taken from us. Simply devastating!
אין מילים. השם ינחם אתכם, ויתן לכל המשפחה, ובפרט לאמו הצדקנית תחי’ מכאן ולהבא רק נחת שמחה ועונג ווי נאר דער אויבערשטער אליין קען
i did not know reb mendel personally but every time i saw him he was always so helpful in such a pleasant way..
in the store or in the street.. so tragic.. only hashem can find a way to heal such a wound…
ברוך דיין האמת His נשמה should have an aliyah
BDE. Such a loss for the whole community. May the family be comforted.
Hashem takes the best
Bde
PLEASE, write your names when you post a comment. It will bring a nechama to Toby and the children, and make a lasting connection that Toby will always value.
btw, I did write my name.
he was just good warm person hard to find today
My Dear Friend
I am so saddened and hurt by this tragic news! I went to visit him last week, and we were hoping for the best. When he fell ill several years ago, I made it my business to call him every Friday, to wish him well and a good shabbos. At times I would miss a Friday call, but by Sunday, Mendel would call me…. he expressed he care for me, as if my care for him was not as important. I remember thanking Mendel one time, and he asked, why are you thanking me, and I responded, Mendel, each week… Read more »
This is just such terrible news!
Being that I know their kids, and I am their cousin, whenever Mendel would see me he would always make sure to speak to me, regardless of his pain and suffering.
Toby- I really admired the way that you dealt with his Illness. It seams like you always had patience and you were clearly always so strong!
Mendel you are truly truly missed!
Moshiach really has to come right now! Ad mosai???
May Hashem comfort his incredible family.
Hamakom yerachem etchem
Toby and the kids stay strong!! May HAHSEM comfort tou
Such a positive and inspirational man. Always a kind word. Made everyone feel important. Never complained. A true mentch, will be missed to all that new him. Toby be strong and know he loved you dearly
Bde- so sorry to hear . He will be sorely missed. May we only share in simchas from now on.
great guy ,huge smile and giant heart!!! will miss you !
rabbi elia haber ,brazil!!
absolutely horrible to hear this after shabbos.
I hoped for a miracle.
he spoke fondly to me, many months ago, of the MANY Hatzoloh volunteers in crown hts that took care of his many needs nebach for so long – on many different levels – he was so grateful for each one of you – you know who you are!!
May we hear only good news from now on always amen
BDE!!!!!!!!!!
Baruch Dayan Emes, I can’t accept this reality. Toby, I’m thinking about you and your beautiful family since I’ve heard the terrible news. Your children have the most gorgeous smiles, and I hope that they will continue being the great and strong children they are in the face of this great tragedy. It’s a crazy auspicious day today. Mendel is a special Neshoma. The world seems lonelier without him. I wish I can take away the pain, and make everything back to the way it was 😥 On this auspicious day of Hoshana Rabba, May Our father in heaven listen… Read more »
Ad mosai??!!
I’m in tears, very sad. He was such a nice man. Moshiach Now!
🙁 🙁 moshiach now
He was a good kind person, may his wife Toby and children be comforted 😢By Hashems mercy and rachamim, much strength and love to the family
Mendel was such a special person, from early childhood he exhibited such warmth, friendship and positiveness. As a shy kid going away to camp from Seattle to Montreal with not many friend’s, each year Mendel was such a welcoming face to see, later we where together in ישיבה, and went on שליחות to Sydney, Mandel was the Rock and foundation of the group, again through his warmth and kindness impacting kids and adults alike to become more connected to אידישקייט, we got our first taste of Mendel’s skills as chef, when four of us spent פסח in Brisbane, he whipped… Read more »
mendel from the store … everybody in CH knew him , everybody in CH felt he was a personal friend of his … he put up with us women driving him mad, so obliging so friendly .. this is a huge loss and a personal lose for even those of us not related . I’m so sad .
Toby and the kids, hashem should give you strength. Ad mosai.
Why does hashem bring illness to such kind people
Why?Sometimes there are no answers.
Toby, you are a woman of strength and beauty. Always walking with a smile and joy on your face. You are a pillar of strength. May Hashem give you much strength and may we dance together to Moshiach’s arrival, today!!!
He always was kind, good a real Mentch. He was a real Chasidisher Yingerman and he always inspired me with his goodness, humility and Emesdikiet. I with with him a few years ago when under difficult circumstances he took his family to EY to celebrate his sons Bar Mitzvah. All kids kids are amazing and he accomplished so much in such a short time. I am broken hearted to hear this news and will try in my small way to emulate his ways and keep his Light shining bright. May his family have true Nechamah with the coming of Moshiach… Read more »
Reb Mendel, met us once leaving the Ohel and he just heard that my father was diagnosed, he stopped us and told to us to have complete faith in Hashem. Hearing those words from Mendel shook us and it changed our attitude immediately. Hashem should comfort the family and may he be a good gebeter for the entire family and klal yisroel.
Terrible loss. We are married to cousins and we davened together in Empire Shtiebel. An amazing person, with an amazing wife, children, siblings, parents and in laws. May Hashem give Toby and the children only revealed good
So sad! May the family only know of joy and Simcha from know on. Moshiach know
BDE
Mendel always had a nice word to say to everyone.
May Hashem give concord to his family.
My cousin Mendel, was everyone’s best friend, a mentch who had time for everyone. He was an exemplary father, husband, and son. He loved his wife with every fiber of his being and there is no earthly way he would leave her and his children if the Aybishter did not have other plans for him. He was so beloved by his friends and there are so many people in the Lubavitch community around the world who are mourning as we, the family are. Mendel had such a generous neshama that most people can only wonder about. He gave so much… Read more »
so sad. heart wrenching. Moshiach now
No words only tears.
G-d have mercy on His innocent children.
Enough orphans .Enough pain.Enough is enough is enough.
Mendel you will truly be missed.
Reb Mendel was a wonderful person, chassid, and father. May Hashem give his family Nechama during this difficult time and his memory a blessing.
Honest, humble, and warm.
Kesser Shem Tov, Oleh Al Gabbayhem
May HAHSEM comfort the family and bring back their father right away!!
One of the best people I have ever known very sad no words
Words can’t express how pained we are to hear this news. In the short time we knew him, Mendel was an inspiration, and he was a wonderful friend to our family. Toby, as we go into Yom Tov in an hour, it will be hard to reconcile the deep sorrow from this tragedy with the joy of Simchat Torah.
So many people were blessed to know him – he was an incredible person and a true Chosid.
Hamokem yenachem eschem b’soych sha’ar aveiley Zion v”Yerushalayim.
BED. Mendel was always kind, considerate and warm, thinking of others despite fighting for his health. Toby is a true aishes chayil who always has a smile and tremendous bitachon and emunah! May Hashem give Toby, their children, Mendel’s parents and family and all the strength and comfort they need. May Moshiach come immediately and return all loved ones that have passed.
Chaya Klein
BDH #1 I agree with you 1% there’s no words to say a very special man
Via Benny Rogosnitzky On Kol Nidrey night after davening, Chazzan Helfgot and I decided to walk to Cornell hospital to visit a young Lubavicher Chossid who was in the hospital. Picture this scene: Intensive Care ward, a young man in his early forties lying in bed connected to so many different life saving machines and the two of us standing by his side singing the songs and melodies of Yom Kippur. After approximately an hour of singing we proceeded to exit and as we reached the stairs his wife came after us and asked if we could return to the… Read more »
We say Borcuh Dayan Haemes, yet we wonder and question HOW CAN HASHEM DO THIS?
It is time for the suffering to stop!
May Hashem grant the family menucha
No words, only Moshiach now.
What a nice person…
Hashem will comfort the family…