Jeremy Schnittman spends his days studying the structure and function of black holes for NASA as a theoretical astrophysicist. His space-related work is probably what he’s most well-known for.
But he and his family are devoted volunteers for Chai Lifeline, as his son, Chaim, attends the organization’s camp for children with pediatric illnesses.
A hobby cyclist, Schnittman is preparing for his fifth time participating in Bike4Chai, the
organization’s cycling fundraiser that has raised millions of dollars for families of children with illnesses and special needs since its 2009 founding.
Schnittman, 46, lives in Silver Spring with his wife and their four children. Their family belongs to Young Israel Shomrai Emunah of Greater Washington.
Growing up in Rochester, New York, Schnittman was raised Reform but became more observant while attending college. He attended yeshiva in Israel, later returning to the U.S. to study physics in graduate school. Soon after, he would meet his wife and, after several moves around the East Coast, they settled in Silver Spring.
The couple’s second-oldest son, Chaim, had always had health issues and had to get a feeding tube put in while in second grade. It was then that the couple found out about Chai Lifeline and Camp Simcha.
“My wife was speaking to someone else whose child also had a feeding tube, and they told us about some of the opportunities that Chai Lifeline could provide. At that point, it was mostly navigating the hospitals and the operations and the treatment,” Schnittman recalled. “2019 was [Chaim’s] first year at Camp Simcha. I remember watching videos of the Bike4Chai event, and the bikers would go into Camp Simcha and celebrate with the campers. I was like, ‘Wow, this is great. I’ve got to get involved.’”
Camp Simcha ended up being a meaningful experience for Chaim, who would not have been able to attend a more traditional overnight camp without proper accommodations.
“The crazy, fun stuff they get to do at camp … the helicopter rides, the motorcycles, all of that stuff … he really liked. And the more emotional stuff, we loved seeing,” Schnittman said. “He got to meet other kids who were having challenges, many even tougher than he’s faced. I think it really helped him grow in empathy and understanding his place in the grand scheme of things.”
Schnittman’s whole family got involved in volunteering for Chai Lifeline. His wife regularly participates in Tour de Simcha, an annual 5K and 10K run and cycling fundraiser for Camp Simcha specifically. One of his daughters also volunteers with Chai Lifeline Mid-Atlantic and is a counselor at Camp Simcha Without Borders Mid-Atlantic, a COVID-era program created to bring Camp Simcha to other states and countries through day camps and special events.
“My oldest daughter, I think she was a little hesitant at first. I’ve heard this from so many families — that siblings deal with these challenges in their own ways. But we went to a weeklong retreat at Camp Simcha where we met all these other families and siblings who were dealing with very different challenges, and it was the best thing for our family. Everyone took away a lot from it,” Schnittman said. “It completely changed her perspective, and she embraced it and started volunteering at Chai activities.”
Because Silver Spring does not have its own Bike4Chai team, Schnittman is a member of the Baltimore cycling team. In addition to Chai Lifeline, they raise money for several other local institutions, including the Yeshiva of Greater Washington.
Aside from doing good for the community, getting involved in Bike4Chai has helped Schnittman rediscover his love of cycling — it was a hobby he’d had in high school, college and graduate school, but he did not pick it up again until Bike4Chai.
He credits his involvement in Chai Lifeline to his parents, who taught him to embrace being an active part of his local Jewish community.
“I think it certainly comes from my parents who had both been very active in a lot of causes in Rochester, New York from as early as I can remember as a child. Both of them had been involved in fundraising for Jewish and non-Jewish organizations in the community. I grew up in a household where that was treated as the right thing to do,” Schnittman said. “Hopefully I was able to, in our own family, make a household where those values are so ingrained that we don’t even have to talk about them. They’re just obvious.”
