“Every child deserves his moment — not just some of them”

PHOTOS: DANIEL NEFOUSSI, MEIR ZALAZNIK AND CHESNER PHOTOGRAPHY

Living Higher

AT

the Keren Olam HaTorah gathering last week in London, nearly 2,000 children had the zechus to pass before the visiting gedolim. Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch shlita, already feeling weary from the exhausting trip, was encouraged to leave early to rest before the next program.

He wouldn’t hear of it. “But what about the children?” he demanded. “They came especially for this. Every child deserves his moment — not just some of them.”

And so, despite his frailty, the Rosh Yeshivah stayed. One by one, each child walked away with a memory he’ll never forget — and a lesson in what true selflessness looks like.

Outsider Votes

At a wedding at the Ateres Matel Leah in the Manhattan Beach Jewish Center, Rabbi Avrohom Hecht, who is in aveilus, was seated outside the social hall. Rather than wallow in loneliness, he decided to capitalize on his situation. He set up a booth in the entranceway where incoming attendees could register to vote. For the all-important upcoming elections, no time is too inconvenient, no place is too crowded, to gain what could be the vote that tips the scale.

Shared Pain

Reb Yaakov Pinto Hy”d was one of the martyrs of the horrific terrorist attack at Ramot Junction in Jerusalem on September 8.

At the shivah, a Gerrer chassid named Rav David Zusha Simcha came to visit. He sat across from Reb Yaakov’s father, ybdlcht”a Mr. Alberto Pinto, whose first language is Spanish. At first, it seemed they had nothing in common — different backgrounds, different dress, even different languages.

But through a translator, Rav Simcha said: “I too lost a son in a terrorist attack, nine months ago.”

He was referring to precious Yehoshua Aharon Tuvia Hy”d, murdered when a terrorist opened fire on a bus in which he and his sister were traveling.

Alberto looked at him with tearful eyes and said, “Kasheh. [It’s hard.]”

The chassid answered with the same simple, shared pain: “Kasheh.”

For over an hour, Rav Simcha stayed, comforting Alberto, sharing words of Chazal, and most of all, sitting with him in a grief only the two of them could understand.

And during that hour, the young kadosh Yehoshua Aharon Tuvia surely sat beside the recently ascended neshamah of Reb Yaakov, realizing that while down below there may still be questions, their parents’ faith will never falter.

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 1080)