Going to Yeshiva for Johnny

Johnny Ellis had a plan. He’d wrapped up his old job, had a new one starting in June, and was going to spend the time in between doing something he’d wanted to do for a while — study in yeshiva. He signed up for one in Crown Heights and planned to go on a Chabad Young Professionals “Encounter” trip to Guatemala. He told his friends in the community how excited he was.

He never made it to either. Johnny, 28, a beloved member of Chabad Young Professionals of Hoboken and Jersey City, died suddenly in April — the day before he was set to leave for Guatemala.

“Johnny was a real pillar of the community,” said Rabbi Shmuel Levitin, who leads CYP with his wife Esta. “The type of guy who everyone knew and loved. Anytime a new face walked in, he was the first person to walk over, introduce himself, and make them feel welcome.”

Ellis attended nearly everything CYP offered — Shabbat dinners, holiday events, volunteer projects. He started a WhatsApp group where members posted tefillin selfies, or, “Telfies.” Phil Beylison, a close friend, put it simply: “Johnny went to 130% of events. That’s not an exaggeration.”

The morning after the burial, Reuven Freedman, another close friend, had an idea: if Johnny couldn’t go to yeshiva, the community would go for him. He brought the concept to Rabbi Levitin, who helped shape it into a five-week Sunday fellowship at the CYP House. A community donor funded it within a day. Sign-ups immediately filled to capacity.

“We decided we have to channel that pain into something that builds — not something that pulls us down,” Rabbi Levitin said. “That’s exactly what Johnny would want.”

Thus the “Johnny Yeshiva” was born.

Each Sunday session runs about five hours — with a curriculum built entirely from scratch featuring source-based classes covering fundamental topics like prayer, Shabbat, and kosher. Classes span Biblical sources, Talmudic discussion, and modern halachic applications, with food and breaks between. A trip to the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s Ohel and 770 — Chabad Lubavitch World Headquarters — is planned for June 28, culminating the program.

Some participants in the yeshiva never even knew Johnny. They joined because the program inspired them on its own.

Beylison still wears the kippah Johnny gave him when they first became friends. He wears it to the Johnny Yeshiva every Sunday.

“If you told me a couple months ago this is where we’d be, I would have been like, wow — how did we get here?” Beylison said. “And if you told me we’d get here because of Johnny, I would have believed you. But I would have never guessed it would be because Johnny’s no longer with us.”