I can’t imagine the feelings of a father as he tries to shield his little boys.
I can’t imagine the terror of a child as he tries to crawl to save himself.
I can’t imagine a little girl in the grips of evil, facing a gun.
I can’t imagine the horror of a father as his little girl died in his arms.
I can’t imagine the pain of a father as he died along with his sons.
And I can’t imagine the grief of the parents who lost their children and grandchildren or the shattering wails of the mother and widow who lost so much.
But I Can Imagine
A discussion in Heaven the Holy One had with a group of some very holy souls. “There is coming a time for My People that will be fraught with danger. They are beset by their enemies, yet they have not the merits to be redeemed and they have not yet repented. Are there any holy neshamos that are prepared to rescue their brethren?”
“Yes,” many answered at once, “but how will we save them?”
“Your neshamos will return to the world below. Your life and death will be an atonement and will serve to inspire my People to repent. Some of you will die as infants, others with sickness. For some it will be shootings, and yet others will perish by enemies with bombs. Bombs that kill babies and parents, little boys and girls, school children and teachers, soldiers and chassanim and kallahs too.”
“Do you still agree to save your brethren?” the Holy One asked.
“Yes,” they answered.
Then the Holy One went to an even higher level, so very close to His Throne, and He asked, “Are there any neshamos here that are prepared to save their brethren in the world below?”
“Yes,” some neshamos answered. “What do we need to do?”
“You are needed to be the parents and grandparents, brothers and sisters, husbands and wives and children of those who will die to sanctify My Name. You will need to bear the unspeakable pain of losing loved ones. Do you accept?”
“Yes, we do for the sake of Your People, Hashem,” they answered. And then one neshama asked the Holy One, “What would Your People need to do to stop the terrible suffering?”
The Holy One answered, “If they pray to me with a broken heart, I will redeem them in an instant.”
I can’t imagine being silent any longer.
{By L. Isaacs-Matzav.com Newscenter}
Beautiful. Thank you. May we all cry out!
Gavriel Sandler died al kiddush Hashem and named for Gavriel Holzberg who died al kiddush Hashem.
It’s interesting that the older brother, Arye Sandler, died al kiddush Hashem, had the same name as Arye Teitelbaum who also died al kiddush Hashem in Mumbai, although Arye Sandler wasn’t named for him.
You are insinuating that these Kedoshim died and their surviving relatives have to suffer because we do not pray enough. You don’t know and should stop trying to “imagine” what G-ds Cheshbonos are.
With all due respect, i must say i am surprised at Matzav editors for letting this one through. I have noticed the most innocuous comments sometimes don’t make it onto your hallowed pages. Who are we, any of us in this generation, to presume we have the faintest idea or perception of what is going on in shamayim?? And to put words into the mouth of–I am actually afraid to express this myself, except to say that the words “The Holy One answered…” in your article above were extremely uncomfortable to read or look at. We were given a Torah at Sinai, and our chachamim have supplied us with ample material to study and think about. This is not for us! Don’t go there! Even our holy ancestor, Aharon HaKohen responded to great personal tragedy with silence, “Vayedom…”
THANKYOU
I feel like a candle which has been relit.
may our growth in Ahavas Yisroel continue to grow and may we use that ahava to light other’s wicks and they should go on to do the same to others.
to all concerned let us reiterate that while we do not know what goes on in shomayim specifically, we do however have guidelines to follow during an “ais tzoro” things that we know about should be corrected because whether or not we know that these issues are “causing ” tzoros- we do know that they have caused tzoros. i wonder if people screamed at the tosfos yomtov for daring to say that the shecita by ths cossacks was because of disrespect shown in davening
But would the Tosfos Yom Tov say this to us, in 5772? We will be mekabel if we hear what we need to hear from someone of this dor’s stature. Otherwise, what’s left to each of us is to do our best, OUR best, not to tell someone else what his or her best is.
boruch dayan ha’emes may Hashem answer our Tefilos.
There is no attempt to insinuate – the Rambam says that if we don’t repend and cry out during times of tzarah then we are considered cruel. Neither does the author infringe on Vayidom Aaron, that refers to after the fact of a tragedy to not complain or question the justice of it. Here the point is to pray now so that we don’t have to suffer additional blows.
The situation in Eretz Yisroel & in the Diaspora is very bad from Terrorists to the entire Economy going down etc… If anyone should ask why all these Tzaros are Happening to Klal Yisroel he only needs to look at what the Rambam says. Saying that as long as we remain ignorant of the present troubles that we have & what the reasons are that they are happening. The situation can only get worse until Mashiach comes. With the society we are living in today we (sadly) CONSTANTLY need reminders (wake-up calls) from HASHEM for us to do T’shuva & return to HASHEM so all this Tzaros can end & Mashiach comes.