Nissim Bouaron, who lost his young daughter Chaya Mushka z”l in a tragic incident this past Friday when she was forgotten in a car during the afternoon hours, published an emotional post Sunday evening recounting the harrowing experience and the waves of public reaction that followed. He began his post with the words: “I am the father who forgot the child in the car.”
Bouaron noted the harsh criticism he has received, quoting comments such as: “Who gave them a license? If they sit in jail this won’t happen. The child, yes, but not the phone. These are parents of many children. Pay attention amidst all the pressure and stress.”
He rejected the notion that the tragedy happened under stress: “There was no moment of pressure,” he wrote. He described arriving home Friday with three of his little ones whom he had picked up from kindergarten, while Chaya Mushka sat beside him in the car. “We arrived home, the children went upstairs. My wife also came home from work. And then the two older ones came back from school. I always check the car, just to make sure I didn’t miss anything. I peek, I look, I search. But that day, for three hours, maybe even more, it disappeared from me. A part of the brain was simply erased.”
He shared personal memories of his daughter, recalling the moments he now treasures: “I want to thank the Creator of the world and Chaya Mushka. Thank You for every moment I fed you with a spoon and felt your lips close around it to take the food. Thank You for every cry and scream in the middle of the night, and for every extra minute I didn’t sleep because of you.”
He described the heartbreak upon reaching the hospital: “The crying… when we arrived at Soroka, I knew that this was it, it was over, and I heard the cries of other children. The crying of a baby his mother was holding. And it gave me a little warmth in my heart. It was the most beautiful melody in the world. I knew for a mother it’s the greatest pain in the world, but I also knew it was the sweetest sound, sweeter than any melody of angels in heaven. It’s a different kind of song, one that only someone who has silence inside can understand.”
Addressing those who had blamed him, Bouaron wrote: “It’s okay if we fight, if we shout, even if we place blame. I will deal with that no less than you deal with your own accusations toward yourselves. I am made of different material. I’ve been through things in life.
“But let’s not forget those quiet ones, the ones you don’t notice with a post full of responses. Anyone who truly wants to change things should maybe reach out to a soldier friend who just came back from battle and talk to him. Just be there for him. You know, Bibi is guilty. The attorney general is guilty. The media is guilty. But why am I guilty if everyone is guilty? What is my role in this world?”
He continued with a heartfelt plea: “So, my dear ones, I really do love each and every Jew. No! Let’s love, let’s embrace. No! Let’s pay attention to those who are not heard, who don’t write a post on Facebook.”
Finally, Bouaron confronted the accusations against him head-on: “On Friday I lost Chaya Mushka. And I am not guilty! Explode if you want, I am not ashamed to say I am not guilty. You go live your lives with guilt if you want. I will continue living despite guilt. I will continue to illuminate the world, continue to see the invisible teens in Dimona that no one sees, not their parents and not their teachers. And they are not guilty either.
“I will continue to bring life and light into the world, continue making mistakes, continue pushing through the stormy waves of life. I will continue to smile and laugh even though I lost a daughter. And you? You will continue to blame.”
{Matzav.com}
