Charlotte Lost a True Hero This Winter

Charlotte Jewish News June 2021

By Rabbi Yossi Groner

Rabbi Yudi Dukes, who led JNet, Chabad’s international remote learning study program, passed away on January 21, 2021. On that day, when Yudi passed away at age 39, the world at large, and more specifically the world of Torah learners, lost a shining light.

A pioneering online teacher and director of JNet, the organization that connects Jews around the world in Torah study, Rabbi Dukes was, among other things, personally responsible for connecting thousands of people to the sweet, holy words of Torah. As recounted by so many, he lived and breathed his calling to connect Jews with each other in the study of Torah by connecting people with phone chavrutas, or study partners, for weekly Torah study sessions.

This tragedy is especially painful here in Charlotte. Rabbi Yudi would regularly visit Charlotte each holiday. Together with his wife, Sarah, a Charlotte native, they would celebrate the major Jewish holidays with Sarah’s parents, Dr. Selwyn and Cheryl Spangenthal.

On every High Holiday, Rabbi Yudi’s melodious voice inspired the participants at Ballantyne Jewish Center and helped lift their prayers heavenward. Every other holiday he could be found at Chabad of Charlotte’s Sardis Road campus, now known as the Epstein Family Chabad Center for Jewish Life. Yudi’s energy was contagious. Whenever he was in town, he would read the Torah at Chabad in a unique and inspiring way. His voice was strong, so powerful that it reverberated throughout the whole shul in a way that uplifted all who heard him. Simchat Torah was his favorite, celebrating at Chabad with palpable joy that touched everyone who knew him. Doing a headstand, dancing, singing, and carrying one of his six beautiful children on his shoulders were some ways Yudi would always celebrate. Yudi earned a special place in our hearts, and our community will never forget him.

A global campaign to carry on the torch that defined Rabbi Dukes’s very life: more Torah-study partners, 1,800 of them to be exact, is an ongoing initiative.

Organizers stress that the primary goal is to increase Torah study, whether it’s using the JNet website to find a new chevruta match or just registering a new commitment with a friend in the registry. What counts is that the legacy of this positive person with a perpetual smile will carry on.

Yudi will be remembered for meeting his harrowing, yet tenacious, battle with COVID-19 with an upbeat attitude, and although he suffered, he refused to yield to that suffering. He will be remembered for greeting others with a smile and being a source of inspiration — that was Yudi’s way of life.

Although Yudi has physically left us, his soul is still positively affecting us. It is now up to us to pick up where he left off, ensuring that his work leads to thousands more people sitting down to study Torah together. For more information, visit www.jnet.org.