* Translated by Janine Muller Sherr
At the beginning of Parashat Chayei Sara, Sarah passes away. At the end of the parasha, Abraham also dies. But the most moving and comforting verse in this parasha describes the link between the generations. Isaac and Rebecca’s relationship is a source of love and consolation:
“Isaac then brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah, and took Rebecca as his wife. Isaac loved her, and thus found comfort after his mother’s death.”
This past week I saw continuity unfold before my eyes: At the convention of Chabad on Campus in New York, I interviewed Daniel Waiss in front of an audience of more than 2,000 Jewish students. Daniel began by relating the facts: One week after October 7, his family was officially informed that his father Shmulik had been murdered at Kibbutz Be’eri. His mother, Yehudit, had been kidnapped. One month later, exactly on the “shloshim” of his father, they were told that his mother’s body had been found in a booby-trapped house near Shifa Hospital.
This young man, who lost both his parents within a month, then proceeded to give this next generation of American Jews an important lesson: “I feel my parents close to me even now,” he said, “I feel them in my bones and I’m very grateful to them. Our connection has not ended. In some ways, I feel even more connected to them now than I did before.”
I asked him how he has been coping with the trauma he experienced and he replied: “I feel like I was born twice— once to my mother, and the second time when I was rescued on October 7 from Kibbutz Be’eri. I heard the terrorists outside my window, I held the window with my hands, and death was so close. After I was rescued, I felt a renewed sense of freedom. Since then, every moment of my life has been a gift. Every morning, I wake up and say: “Thank you, God, that I’m still breathing.” Since that time, I’ve been unable to say that life is bad because I feel that life is a tremendous gift. I’ve been looking for ways to engage in holy work that will be a blessing for my soul as well as other people’s souls. This is the way that one should live one’s life.”
Thank you, Daniel, for your brave words and deeds. May we all merit to continue the lives of our fathers and mothers. Shabbat Shalom!
