I made a mistake. In the summer of 2019, I was to go to Israel with Birthright but I needed to get from Charlotte to New York. I had my flight to New York but a DAY EARLIER than I needed it. I reached out to Sarah Dukes asking if she knew of any affordable place to stay in New York and without a second going by she opened up her home to me. It was such a blessing to be able to spend a day with the Dukes family right before heading to Israel. I wore tefillin with Yudi and later went to Minchah and Ma’ariv prayers with Yudi. It was such a blessing to be with the Dukes family and this short time with them was a big step on the Jewish path I’m on now. You didn’t have to spend much time with Yudi to be impacted by Yudi. Come March of 2020 I found myself in Israel again but on a six month adventure this time. Through Facebook I became aware that Yudi was facing serious complications after contracting COVID-19. Before March, I wasn’t one to pray much on my own. If I wasn’t in shul, I wasn’t praying. But, when I heard Yudi was sick, I knew I had to do something and I felt strongly compelled to pray. There were nights that I would sit outside on a hill (by where I was living at the time on Kibbutz Harduf) and look at the lights of Haifa and the Mediterranean Sea. There I prayed strongly for Yudi to make a full recovery. I remember looking up at the stars and asking that G-d should watch over, protect, and heal Yudi. I was ecstatic when I learned that Yudi came out of his coma. Later on, I enrolled for a month at the Aish HaTorah yeshiva in Jerusalem. I knew that as soon as I could (and when relatively safe to do so) I should go to the Kotel and pray to G-d to heal Yudi. At times when I couldn’t get to the Kotel, I would go to where I could see the Kotel and pray for Yudi. I’m so grateful that I was in Israel to be as close to G-d as I could to pray for Yudi. After returning to the States, I knew I had to continue praying for Yudi. Now because of this, I started wearing tefillin regularly in the morning. I can’t express how heartbroken I was to learn about Yudi’s passing. I know that G-d has plans bigger than I can comprehend but I am nevertheless very disappointed with G-d. I was expected a recovery. But despite us losing Yudi, I still pray everyday and wear tefillin every morning when I am supposed to. I feel that part of keeping his legacy alive is to continue doing mitzvos and developing out relationship with G-d. Despite my frustration with G-d, I am keeping my relationship with G-d. I know that is what Yudi would want. We live up to our name, Yisrael, by having a complicated and difficult relationship with G-d. This is just one of the many lessons I have learned from Yudi Dukes. My love goes to the Dukes and Spangenthal families. May G-d continue to watch over you and keep you close.