There’s a classic movie, It’s a Wonderful Life, in
which the protagonist, George Bailey, is discouraged and wishes he’d
never been born. His wish is granted, for just a short time, and George is able
to see what his town would have been like if he’d never existed. He realizes
that he’d actually accomplished quite a lot in his almost forty years. With
that realization he loses his desire to commit suicide.
Last week the death of two precious souls deeply affected me. Anne Marie Kunstler Goldenberg* was two months shy of her
hundred-and-first birthday when she died peacefully in her bed in her
farmhouse. Amiad Yisrael Ish Ran was barely three-days-old when he died in the
Shaare Tzedek neo-natal intensive care unit in the holy city of Jerusalem,
Israel’s capital. Anne Marie’s life had taken her from Nuremberg, Germany to
London, England and from there to Montreal, Canada and finally Stillwater,
Oklahoma. Amiad Yisrael’s life started after his mother was critically injured
in a terrorist attack and she underwent an emergency C-section to try to save
the baby’s life. Anne Marie was a big
part of my world from before I was even born. I never met Amiad Yisrael or any
of his family.
Anne Marie left behind beautiful memories for her
children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and the rest of us who loved and
admired her. She accomplished quite a
lot in the hundred years HaShem gave her. The Almighty, in His wisdom, granted
Amiad Yisrael a mere three days. Yet, Amiad Yisrael accomplished quite a lot in
those three very short days. He united people all over the world to pray for
his full recovery. And when that full recovery was denied the same people
joined his family in their sorrow.
The deaths of both saddened me and were very much on
my mind when I was in the synagogue Shabbat evening. There’s a certain psalm,
psalm ninety-two, that we say every Shabbat. The last line ends with the sentence to
declare that Hashem is just, He’s my rock, and there’s no wrong with Him. The
words stuck in my throat. How could it be right that a three-day-old baby could
be murdered by terrorists?
Thankfully, my faith was able to kick in. I remembered
that we’re all given missions. Some, like Anne Marie, take a long time to
complete their assignments. Others, George Bailey for example, think they’ve
finished their work before it’s done. Then there are those like Amiad Yisrael, Hy’d,
who accomplish their tasks in a blink of an eye. Remembering this I was able to
repeat the ninety-second psalm on Shabbat morning with a full heart.
It’s my prayer that we’ll see our mission of
establishing true peace in the world come to fruition, that we’ll merit
greeting the Moshiach speedily in our time, and that we’ll rebuild the Holy
Temple together.
Please pray for Natanel Ilan ben Shayna Tzipporah, critically
injured, and Shira bat Michal, seriously injured, in one of the terror attacks on
December 13th. And Neveh Michael ben Osnat Esther seriously injured the following day. Please continue to pray for Shira Yael bat Liora Sara, mother of Amiad Yisrael.
May the loved ones of Yossi Cohen z'l and Yuval Mor-Yosef z'l be comforted among the mourners of Zion.
*for more about Anne Marie see Sometimes It’s Hard
To Be So Far Away, August 28th, 2017.
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