“RABBI’S MUSINGS (& AMUSINGS)”
Erev Shabbos Kodesh parshas Devorim – Shabbos Chazon
3 Menachem Av 5783/July 21, 2023
TOUCH OF HOPE
On Thursday evening June 12, 2014, Gilad Shaer, Naftali Fraenkel, and
Eyal Yifrach were at the junction of Alon Shvut in Gush Etzion, just outside
their yeshiva. Like many do, they were hitching a ride so they could spend
Shabbos at home. A car with an Israeli license plate pulled over. The driver
and front seat passenger were wearing classic Jewish garb and there was
well-known Jewish music playing. The unsuspecting boys got in.
Within a few minutes they were driven into an Arab village. After trying
to call the police for help, they were immediately shot and killed. At the time
however, the Jewish world was yet unaware that they were dead.
As soon as word went out that the three boys were missing, a massive
campaign to “Bring back our boys”, seized the Jewish community, the world over.
For three weeks there were tears, prayers and an incredible wave of unity. When
the horrible truth was realized, there was tremendous grief and sorrow. The
three murdered boys became the son and brother of every Jew in the world.
About ten months later, as the Shaer family was beginning to prepare for
their son’s first yahrtzeit, they received a visit to their home from a police
delegation. The police explained that they had retrieved some of Gilad’s
belongings, including the burnt remains of his talis bag, a backpack, and some
other articles. But it was the last item that was the most meaningful. The
police presented them with a notebook with a red cover that was scorched along
the edges. There was water damage as well. The notebook clearly contained
Gilad’s handwriting. His mother began flipping through the delicate pages. Her
heart skipped a beat when she read the words, “I love Ima. Very much.”
Gilad’s mother related that seeing those words and receiving a message
from her deceased son whom she never thought she would hear from again, was a
true miracle.
After they had murdered the boys, the terrorists transferred the bodies
to another vehicle and torched the original car. When the fire was
extinguished, the materials found in and around the car ended up in the
basement of the Palestinian police. Somehow months later the materials were
discovered and returned to the families.
Deciphering the badly damaged writing of the notebook was painstaking and
required the extensive efforts of experts. But every line deciphered was
another treasure to the Shaer family.
In his mother’s words, “Reconnecting to my son in this way helped me
overcome my overwhelming sense of loss in those first months and years. Yes, it
opened wounds and caused even more pain, but I ended up feeling closer to him.”
It’s an extraordinary, painful, and touching story.
I want to add a hypothetical supplement to the story:
A few months later there is a family wedding in the Shaer family. A
cousin decides to bring along a picture of Gilad and the found diary. While
family pictures are being taken, the cousin hands the picture and diary to
Gilad’s mother to hold in the family picture. When his mother’s eyes well up
with tears, the cousin asks her why she is sad. “You have the diary and a
picture. What else do you need?”
Of course, this ridiculous situation never happened. Although the diary
was a tremendous comfort to the family, allowing them to feel a deeper
connection with their beloved Gilad, it doesn’t nearly replace having Gilad
there in person.
In 1967, Hashem granted
the Jewish People a previously unimaginable gift. The famous declaration of
Commander Moti Gur: “Har Habayit b’yadeinu” announced to the world that
the Temple Mount was under Israeli control for the first time since the
Chashmonai Kings. A little more than two decades earlier, our nation had limped
away from the fires of the crematorium, shattered and humiliated. The
reclamation of Yerushalayim was also a restoration of our national pride.
At that time, Rav Aryeh Levin purportedly quipped that he only hopes the
Jewish people would not take the gift of being able to daven at the Kosel for
granted. It’s hard for us to realize how privileged and blessed we are to be
able to visit and daven at the Kosel, something virtually unimaginable to our
ancestors.
At the same time, it behooves us to remember that the Kosel is merely the
outer wall of the courtyard that surrounded the Beis HaMikdash. Today, behind
the Kosel, Muslims roam freely upon our holiest site.
Hashem has blessed us and infused us with hope that greater days are
coming. But we aren’t there yet.
Like Gilad’s diary, the Kosel is a tremendous chizuk for our people and
helps us feel a more profound sense of connection to the source of our yearning
and hopes. But like Gilad’s diary, it is no replacement for his family being
able to embrace him and see his beautiful smile. For us too, true redemption
can only be achieved with the rebuilding of the Beis HaMikdash and the
restoration of the Avodah.
Until then, Tisha B’Av remains a day of anguish and sorrow and we
continue to pray, “Nachem Hashem – May Hashem comfort the mourners
of Zion and Yerushalayim.”
Shabbat Shalom
& Good Shabbos,
R’ Dani
and Chani Staum
