Oy, Meh Hayah Lanu!

Almost exactly 76 years ago, on June 29, 1938, Shlomo Ben-Yosef HY"D of Rosh Pina was hung by the British.

He was the first of the Olei HaGardom (also known as the Harugei HaMalchut) – the twelve Jewish men whom the British sentenced to death in the pre-State era.

In response, two days later, on Rosh Chodesh Tamuz 5698, Rav Yaakov Moshe Charlap zt"l, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Merkaz HaRav, wrote a letter of chizuk to his son, daughter-in-law, and grandson.

This afternoon, Rav Gidon Binyamin shlit”a, the Rav of Nof Ayalon, read an excerpt from that letter at the funeral of Naftali Fraenkel HY"D.

(An English translation follows below.)

א' דראש חודש תמוז תרח"צ

בני יקירי, ורעיתך היקרה, והילד היקר - ד' עמכם.

אמנם המחשבות סוערות מאוד מעליית לגרדום אחד מבני ישראל על לא דבר. לא הועילו כל ההפצרות, לא הועילו כל ההתחננות. גם כל חלונות השמים נסגרו. כל התפילות, השוועות, הזעקות, והתחינות לא בקעו את העננים.

אשרי לאיש הזה שעל ידו נתעוררו כל כך הרבה הרהורי תשובה. אשרי לו שעל ידו נתאחדו לנקודה אחת כל ישראל. אך אוי מה היה לנו, מדוע שתם תפילתנו, אבל ביטחוננו בו יתברך שמו כי ינקום נקמת דם עמו לעינינו, ובמהרה נראה בבנין ציון וירושלים, ובבנין בית מקדשנו וכו'.

אביכם המעתיר בעדכם ומברך אתכם,
יעקב משה

Rosh Chodesh Tamuz 5698

My dear son, your dear wife, and the dear child,

May Hashem be with you.

Indeed our thoughts are in great turmoil after one of Bnei Yisrael was sent to the gallows for no reason. All the entreaties were to no avail. All the supplications were to no avail. Even all the windows of Heaven were closed. All the prayers, the outcries, the shouts, and the pleadings did not pierce the clouds.

Fortunate is this man, who because of him, so many were roused to contemplate repentance. Fortunate is he, who because of him, all of Israel was united as one. But woe, what has befallen us! Why were our prayers unrequited? But our trust is in Him, blessed is His Name, that He will avenge His nation’s blood before our eyes, and we will speedily witness the rebuilding of Tzion and Yerushalayim and the rebuilding of our Beit HaMikdash, etc.

Your father who bestows abundance upon you and blesses you,
Yaakov Moshe

May we continue to relish the beautiful achdut (unity) of the past two and a half weeks; may the three bereaved families be consoled among the mourners of Tzion and Yerushalayim; and may the memories of Eyal HY”D, Gil-Ad HY”D, and Naftali HY”D be blessed.

Baruch Dayan Emet

Am Yisrael suffered a devastating loss today.

Police reported that a staggering 800,000 mourners accompanied the Rishon L’Tzion, Maran HaRav Ovadiah Yosef zt”l on his final journey through the streets of Yerushalayim, and countless others watched the proceedings on television or online.

An unsurpassed Torah giant, Rav Ovadiah zt”l was renowned for his incredible memory, his encyclopedic knowledge, his love and concern for his fellow Jews, and most of all, his willingness to rule on complex issues that many others were afraid to address.

At one point, a TV anchor asked who would replace him, and one of the commentators responded that Rav Ovadiah zt”l cannot be replaced. After all, the commentator continued, the only previous “Maran” was Rav Yosef Karo zt”l, the compiler of the groundbreaking halachic code, the Shulchan Aruch.

The following video clip – of Rav Ovadiah’s hachtarah (coronation or investiture ceremony) as Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel in 1973 – aired this evening on Israel Television:

.יהי זכרו ברוך

In lieu of an actual post…

Notwithstanding my oft-cited Pesach schedule, this time of year isn’t exactly conducive to blogging. And so, in lieu of an actual post, here are a few more blogbits:

1) Condolences to A Mother in Israel on the loss of her father z”l. After getting up from shiva last week, she wrote up some helpful tips. May she and her family be comforted among the mourners of Tzion and Yerushalayim.

2) Reason #98043a for making aliyah:

Last week, YZG and I went to a wedding at the same Yerushalayim hall and with the same mesader kiddushin (officiating rabbi) as this wedding.

This meant that last week’s chupah (ceremony) was just as beautiful and moving as the previous one – albeit with two main differences:

• The weather wasn’t quite as chilly.
• We had a chance to catch up – in real life, no less! – with fellow blogger Jameel.

3) If you need a quick break from your cleaning, check out this very funny (and rather intellectual) Purim prank over at G6’s blog.

4) Here in TRLEOOB*, today is Annual Move Into Our Springtime Succah Day.

5) Not coincidentally, today is also the day we turn our living room rug upside-down and keep it that way until the end of the week IY”H - in hope that gravity will do its thing on at least some of the dust. </amusing only in Israel scene>

We now return you back to your regularly scheduled Pesach preparations…

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*TRLEOOB=the real life equivalent of our blog

Baruch Dayan Emet

There is nothing to say.

May we once again be privileged to witness the fulfillment of the Megilah’s words:

“As the days on which the Jews rested from their enemies, and the month which was turned about for them from grief to joy and from mourning to a festival…” (Esther 9:22)

And may this coming week be one of besurot tovot, yeshu’ot, and nechamot (good tidings, salvation, and consolation).

Baruch Dayan Emet

The Shiputzim family extends our heartfelt condolences to guest blogger Malke and her family on the tragic loss of her beloved mother z”l.

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המקום ינחם אתכם בתוך שאר אבלי ציון וירושלים

ולא תוסיפו לדאבה עוד.

______________________________

Baruch Dayan Emet

For me, blogging usually serves as an escape from real life.

But sometimes, real life has a nasty way of intruding on the microcosm known as the J-Blogosphere.

Yet, this isn’t too surprising – considering that the J-Blogosphere is actually made up of real people, many of whom I now consider to be my real friends (whether or not we’ve met in person).

And like any friends, we share in each other’s joys. But also, רחמנא לצלן, in each other’s sorrows.

Like countless people around the globe, I feel as if I “knew” RivkA z”l from her blog, even though YZG and I were only privileged to meet  her in person one time – at the bloggers’ picnic she organized during Succot 5770.

As a matter of fact, this picnic was a perfect illustration of RivkA’s incredible bravery, warmth, exuberance, and optimism.

You see, in the wake of the previous summer’s J-Bloggers Convention, a few of us had discussed arranging an informal get-together. In lieu of sessions, lectures, or workshops, we were looking for a chance to sit around and schmooze.

We all agreed that such an idea would be great and that we really “should” arrange something. But the new school year was starting, and then the chagim were rapidly approaching…

Let’s put the plan on hold for now, everyone said. Maybe we’ll think about it in November or so.

Everyone, that is, except RivkA.

Quietly and without fanfare, she weighed possible dates, scouted suitable locations, took reservations, and gave out directions.

Then at the event itself, she greeted each participant with her trademark radiant smile and made us feel like we had been friends forever.

And when it was time to leave, she asked simply, “Can I give you a hug?”

Because, of course, that’s what friends do…

May RivkA’s beautiful family be comforted among the mourners of Tzion and Yerushalayim.

המקום ינחם אתכם בתוך שאר אבלי ציון וירושלים ולא תוסיפו לדאבה עוד.

Baruch Dayan Emet

The Shiputzim family mourns the tragic loss of our beloved uncle z”l and extends our deepest condolences to our dear aunt and cousins.

.המקום ינחם אתכם ואת ביתכם בתוך שאר אבלי ציון וירושלים

A consummate talmid chacham, a brilliant mechanech, and an ohev shalom v’rodef shalom, his modesty, humility, and sterling midot were only surpassed by his wonderful and infectious sense of humor.

.ת.נ.צ.ב.ה

Thoughts on a funeral

Last night, after we lit the first Chanukah candle, YZG and I went to a funeral. As you can imagine, the juxtaposition of the two events was jarring – to say the least.

But that’s not what I want to blog about right now.

I want to talk about the funeral itself. By YZG’s estimate (I can never judge these things), there were well over a thousand people there.

A crowd like that might lead you to think that this was the funeral of a major Rav or a noted celebrity.

However, it wasn’t.

It was the funeral of a wife. A mother. A grandmother. A sister. A daughter. A teacher. A seemingly “ordinary” person…. who turned out to be extraordinary.

A significant percentage of those in attendance probably didn’t know her personally. Some of them were her children’s friends; others were her husband’s work colleagues. But the truth is that during her all-too-brief time on earth, she left her impact on all of them. After all, she was the one who made her husband and her children be who they are.

Her death is an unbearable and unfathomable tragedy. In his hesped, her husband asked, “How can we possibly go on without her?!”

And yet, in spite of the sadness and in spite of the grief, every single person who was there last night walked away inspired and moved to somehow emulate her.

ת.נ.צ.ב.ה