Rabbi Dovid Beitler z"l

He went by a lot of names because he was part of a lot of lives. He was a rabbi and coach at HAFTR and North Shore. He ran the youth departments at several Five Towns shuls. He knew kids from every school, every shul, and every neighborhood. And every one of them knew him.

Twenty-eight years ago, he and David Kolb started Camp Dovid. They built something amazing for our children. It was a place to play hard, grow up right, and learn what it means to be a mensch. Every value he lived by is in this camp.

He also started the first Five Towns hockey league. It began small and exploded. Today, thousands of kids are playing hockey because of him.

Before all of that, he was a rebbe at Yeshivas Neveh Zion in Israel. He taught young men who arrived thinking they had life figured out. He met them where they were. He never judged. He accepted every talmid for who he was. Many of those bonds lasted a lifetime.

Beitler was a guy’s guy. He loved to feed people. He worked the grill. He hosted Super Bowl parties for the neighborhood kids. He was the star quarterback on the yeshiva football field. He would give you the shirt off his back.

He had charisma. He had honesty. He had a gift for making every kid feel like someone.

When he passed, rabbis, students, and families from communities everywhere came to honor him. It showed how many lives he touched.

At Camp Dovid, we carry his legacy forward. On the court and off it, we try to do what Beitler did: build character, connect with every kid, and make each one feel like they matter.