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Chuppah of chesed

עופר אוחנה מברך את בתו בחופה

Translation by Yehoshua Siskin

Ofer Ohana, who was critically wounded last month in a terrorist attack, went straight from rehabilitation to his daughter's chuppah. One of the guests at this special wedding, Rabbi Hevron Shiloh, who heads the Or Otniel high school yeshiva, wrote about the wedding as follows.
"I was privileged to take part in the wedding of children of two of our generation's giants (gedolei hador). You may not have heard of them and certainly have not read their books since their stature is not that of sages, but of purveyors of lovingkindness.
Ofer Ohana is a man of Hevron. He is an ambulance driver and a medic, someone who saves lives. Around a month ago, for the umpteenth time, Ofer dashed out of his home, in order to save those wounded in an attack, and a terrorist's bullets wounded him critically. He began a long struggle and is still in bandages, but he is standing on his feet. So what does a wounded father say to his daughter and her groom under the chuppah?
He began by thanking Hashem for his personal miracle and then addressed the bride and groom: The chuppah is open on all sides just as your home must be. Build a home of lovingkindness where, before you sit down to eat, you check and see who you can invite. Build a home where the tradition of lovingkindness started by Avraham Avinu continues.
The daughter of Ofer married the son of Avraham Chasno, may HaShem avenge his blood, who was killed seven years ago in a terrorist attack. It is clear to me that if he were here, this is exactly what he would have said to his son and his bride.
For three years, Avraham Chasno, z"l, managed the kitchen at our high school yeshiva, Or Otniel. He was officially responsible for food and I was officially responsible for education. But this was only officially since he was a giant of the generation in teaching how to give. He always went out of his way to serve the student that was late for a meal, the staff member who did not have time to eat, the sick, the one celebrating a simcha. And always, at the end of the day, he could never throw out any food. He devotedly collected it for distribution to needy families.
So I wish a speedy recovery for you, Ofer. And mazal tov to the bride and groom, Roni and Eldad. Two homes of lovingkindness are merging. May all of us merit to receive HaShem's supreme lovingkindness."

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