With matzo and grape juice, scores of New York City firefighters gathered to celebrate the department’s first-ever Passover Seder — and honor a Jewish hero.
Andrew Scharf, 29, was honored for his daring March 5 rescue of Ubeaka McKinney, whom he pulled from the third story of his burning apartment complex in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn.
He used a rare and perilous technique in which he rappelled down from the roof – what department chief James Leonard called an expression of Jewish values.
“That kind of rescue does not happen often and it’s for good reason,” he said. “It’s a last resort when there is no other way to save a life, and he did it. In the Jewish community, they say when you save one life, you save the world.”
Asked about what it’s like to be a Jewish firefighter, Scharf told the Forward that he’s never seen a difference between himself and his fellow firefighters.
The tribute to Scharf came at the historic Seder – hosted by the FDNY’s Jewish Ner Tamid Society in the department’s downtown Brooklyn headquarters.
Rabbi Joseph Potasnik, the FDNY’s chaplain, wisecracked as he walked the multiethnic crowd through the different steps of the ritual meal, using a learner’s Haggadah full of handy illustrations.
“When are we done? When do we eat? Do we have to read the whole thing?” he asked. “Do we have to do it again tomorrow?”
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