Last May, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy addressed the growing public health crisis of loneliness, reporting that approximately 50% of American adults admit to feeling “measurable levels of loneliness.”
Local attorneys Brad Kauffman and Stan Lustman share Dr. Murthy’s concerns. They recently launched Tobias’s Tent, a nonprofit “to eradicate loneliness in people of all ages by engaging volunteers to conduct regular customized visits.”
Tobias’s Tent is named after Tobias Vogelstein, a friend of Lustman and Kauffman’s who died from complications of brain cancer on Nov. 23, 2023, at the age of 32. An earlier bout with brain cancer when Vogelstein was just 6 left him legally blind and deaf.
Kauffman, vice president of Tobias’s Tent, first met Vogelstein when the former was a counselor at Beth Tfiloh Camps. That summer, Kauffman was 16 and Vogelstein was a 7-year-old camper who had recently completed treatment for a cancerous brain tumor.
“I noticed he was isolated from the rest of the campers, and I immediately took a liking to him,” Kauffman says. “He had to leave camp, so I went to his house and played guitar and sang to him. We spent a lot of time together over these past years reading tons of books and telling stories, playing games and going on trips together.
“He wanted a friend, but … I really obtained a role model, this very special person in my life, and he taught me a very powerful lesson — to never succumb to adversity.”
Lustman’s relationship with Vogelstein began in 2003 when Lustman, president of Tobias’s Tent, was his bar mitzvah tutor. Vogelstein “was determined to overcome obstacles,” Lustman recalls. “He and I worked very closely together. … We went to the [Maryland] School for the Blind and got [bar mitzvah] materials in braille. After his bar mitzvah, we would meet regularly to play games and read and tell stories. I just became so enchanted and fascinated by him — his positive attitude, his sense of humor, his ability to tell stories and to entertain.”
Lustman says the idea for Tobias’s Tent evolved “naturally. … We want people to know about Tobias Vogelstein because [when] you thought about Tobias and knew Tobias, you immediately had your spirits raised. We want to raise the spirits of people who may be lonely, may need visitors, not just on a one-and-done basis but to establish relationships and to perpetuate the name of Tobias.”
Tobias’s Tent launched recently with programs at Pikesville’s Sterling Care Assisted Living and the King David Nursing Home. Both events featured singing by Beth Tfiloh Cantor Emeritus Avi Albrecht, a dear friend of Vogelstein’s. After the events, Tobias’s Tent registered its first prospective volunteers.
Tobias’s Tent is also seeking individuals to visit vulnerable individuals in their homes. Volunteers will be matched with people with common interests. All volunteers will undergo background checks. Once matched, Tobias’s Tent board members will follow up to ensure a good fit.
In creating Tobias’s Tent, Lustman and Kauffman insist they aren’t trying to reinvent the wheel.
“There are so many wonderful charitable organizations out there doing so many amazing things,” says Lustman. “We don’t want to encroach upon any other successful organization. We want to be a complement to whatever others may be doing. But we’re looking to have a special spot to attack what we consider to be the plague of loneliness.”
Vogelstein’s mother, Debbie, who is a board of trustees member, says she is deeply moved by the efforts of Lustman and Kauffman.
“I really am the third wheel because Brad and Stan came up with it. But as soon as they asked me to be on their board, I’ve really hit the ground running,” she says. “We obviously feel that Tobias’s life was cut way too short, but we always say we are proud he had a fulfilling life. And the people that were involved in his life helped fulfill it. We remember when people visit us at the shiva house, they say, ‘May his memory be a blessing.’ So this is a fulfillment of Tobias’s memory being for a blessing.”
For information, visit tobiastent.org.
Israeli-Americans Rachel Goldberg-Polin and Jon Polin talked about the pain of losing their 23-year-old son, who was kidnapped and later murdered in the Oct. 7th tragedy.
A committed philanthropist and community leader, Russel was president of R&H Motors.
The mother of four was a native of Winchester, Virginia, who spent most of her life in Northwest Baltimore.
The Columbia resident worked on the Gemini and Apollo space missions.