Fatal fall in Lawrence; Levi Zahn a"h

By Mayer Fertig

Issue of March 13, 2009 / 17 Adar 5769

Levi Zahn a”h, a husband and father of three daughters and a son, passed away Sunday morning after a fall down a flight of stairs in his Lawrence home. He was 50 years old and was described by a friend as someone who made a point of “greeting everyone b’sever panim yafot,” with a smile.

Zahn was an interior decorator known for his sense of personal style and as a ba’al tefilah (cantor) at Shaaray Tefilah, where he was a longtime member. He was described as very close to the shul’s rav, Rabbi Dovid Weinberger, who declined to comment. His funeral was held in Shaaray Tefilah on Ta’anit Esther (Fast of Esther), Monday morning.

It was unclear if Zahn suffered any sort of episode that led to the fall, or if he died as a result of the serious injuries he sustained in the fall which occurred  at around 9:00 a.m. A med-evac helicopter was requested, then cancelled. Zahn was taken by Hatzalah ambulance to St. John’s Hospital where he was pronounced dead shortly before 10:30 a.m.

In an example of first responder community organizations working hand in hand in an emergency, members of Chai Lifeline’s bereavement and crisis intervention team were summoned urgently by Hatzalah to the home on Rolling Hill Lane to counsel Zahn’s wife, Lisa, and their four children, ages 20, 17, 15 and 12. Zahn and his wife had attended a simcha (party) together earlier in the evening.

“He was always, always b’sever panim yafot” (greeted others with a pleasant demeanor), recalled Suri Stern of Woodmere on Sunday afternoon. She is the editor of thefivetowns.com and a longtime friend of the family. “He had a beautiful voice, he had great flair and people appreciated his individuality, his love of human beings and his love of life.”

Zahn was said to have designed a number of businesses on Central Avenue and was currently working on the new Red Shul, Kehillas Bais Yehudah Tzvi, which is under construction in Cedarhurst.

An e-mail message sent to that congregation’s membership on Sunday said, “With great sadness, we announce the sudden passing of Levi Zahn, the interior designer for our new shul building. Levi was instrumental in the design and construction of the new building and was extremely helpful to our kehillah.”

“He was a wonderful parent,” said Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetzky, Rosh HaYeshiva of the Yeshiva of South Shore, where his own son was an elementary school classmate of the Zahns’ son. Both boys are now in high school.

“He was a parent who, whenever he met me, discussed how the boys were learning together and how interested he was to see his son grow to be a ben torah.”

The Zahns’ daughters attend TAG in Far Rockaway; their oldest is a graduate.

To amplify his remark that the Zahns are “a family that loves Torah, loves learning,” Rabbi Kamenetzky noted that Lisa Zahn once finished Shas (the entire Talmud) with the daf yomi shiur on the Long Island Rail Road.

Stern, her college roommate, confirmed that Mrs. Zahn had actually completed the arduous seven-and-a-half-year course of study more than once.

“She was the only girl on the Gemara train from Far Rockaway. She finished Shas with them and then did her own whole round,” Stern said.

Levi Zahn was, “always worried about the yeshiva, always ready to do anything for the school,” Rabbi Kamenetzky recalled. “Really good people.”

This article reflects a correction concerning when the accident occurred. It happened on Sunday morning, not Motza'ei Shabbat as originally stated.