Len Katz was on a Shabbat walk with his wife a few weeks ago in a Toronto, Ont., park when they spotted a red bag under a park bench. On closer inspection, the two realized it was a tallit bag.
Sure enough there was a tallit, or prayer shawl, inside, with no indication of who the owner was. But the Katzes found something else that elevated the mystery from the mundane to the singular:
Brochures and flyers from Congregation Beth Emeth in Herndon and Sha’are Shalom of Leesburg dating from 2006 and 2007. There was also a Toronto USY brochure from 2005.
“We assumed that whoever it was would find it, assuming they were part of the Jewish community that follows up on information,” said Katz, a 71-year- old Toronto retiree, noting that the items showed no sign of exposure to rain. He concluded that the tallit must not have been in the spot under the bench very long.
The Katzes spread the word to various Toronto groups. When that met with no success, they decided to reach out to Beth Emeth to see if maybe it belonged to one of their congregants. After all, the tallit’s owner had apparently attended some of their services way back when.
“When we got the call from Len…I thought it was intriguing,” said Susan Berger, Beth Emeth’s communications director.
Wanting to help, she put an announcement in the synagogue’s weekly newsletter. Then she shared the information in several local and national Jewish Facebook groups and various other channels.
“I found it really interesting, the wide variety of locations, the span of years, and the types of things that are in the bag,” she said. “I thought, there are a million scenarios that could match. But it’s a strange combination of things, so figured it would be perfect for social media.”
Berger, who describes herself as a nerd and “loves mystery,” has been concocting all sorts of potential scenarios about who the find could belong to, using the singular collection of objects as potential clues.
“A couple of items make me think they were at our high holiday services in 2006 and 2007 and volunteered to be an usher, which indicates they maybe were a member,” she said. “A few things make me think they were a teenager at the time, but other things make me think that wouldn’t be the case.”
She also hypothesizes that, at least back then, this person was a member or close to a member of Beth Emeth.
“But that’s a long time and things change, and people move,” she remarked, also highlighting how there is obviously some connection to Toronto.
Katz has his own theories, too.
“It’s an older tallit, so it’s been used and is a bit worn obviously,” he said. “I would assume if it’s an elderly person. And because it’s a park bench, I would assume that someone older or retired or my age has relocated to Toronto, or was here visiting and left it behind.”
At press time, the tallit had yet to be claimed, and is Katz’s possession until the rightful owner is found — after all, they are likely still in Toronto.
“It’s unfortunate someone left it behind,” he said. “We’re hoping to find the owner. I have no idea who it is, what sect of Jewish religion they actually come from, because this area is heavily occupied, but we have people ranging from Reform all the way to Haredi and Chabad. You name it, we’ve got it here.”
Berger noted that while she hopes her efforts are fruitful (“I’d love to have a success story”), it’s less about the recognition and more about helping a fellow Jew. Especially if they’ve had the tallit since 2005, it could be a prized possession.
“I think it’s important we do mitzvahs for each other when we can,” Berger said. “It’s not about me getting credit, it’s really being part of the larger community and finding this person and helping this person get reunited with this tallis.” ■
Hannah Docter-Loeb is a freelance writer.
