Grief

 Twenty-four years ago, five-month-old Yehuda Shoham was critically injured when the car he was travelling in was attacked by a heavy stone thrown by an Arab terrorist. We - the whole nation- prayed morning, afternoon, evening, and in-between for a miracle to save his life. After eight days Yehuda returned his soul to his Maker and our hearts were broken. What happened to all those prayers? At Yehuda’s shiva his parents insisted they had not been wasted. They told us, the ones trying to comfort them, that all the others in the pediatric ICU where Yehuda had been, were released from the hospital, able to have a healthy life. Their conviction that the prayers said for Yehuda helped those babies and children comforted us. I have not forgotten their words.

Now, after 500 days of praying for Kfir ben Shiri, Ariel ben Shiri, and Shiri bat Marget, I hold on to their words with all my broken heart. May HaShem use our prayers to bring comfort to the Bibas and Lifshitz families and all those who have been bereaved in this horrible war.