PURIM NEWSLETTER—WISHING EVERYONE A VERY HAPPY PURIM

MOTHER TO MOTHER-MAINTAINING OUR CONNECTION

            This month we are doing something different and only writing to you about one extraordinary project.  Our lady volunteers paid a shiva call to each mother who lost a son during last summer’s War, known as “Tzuk Eitan.”  We wanted to maintain the connection we established with these mothers, so Ayelet Hashachar decided to prepare and send Shalach Manos to each of them. There are certain things which only a mother can feel and express to another mother. We wanted to tell them that their sons were also “our sons”—sons of all the Jewish people, that we are a unified whole. Our message to them was that we would never forget them not for a second; especially during this period of heightened joy we remember them.

Ayelet Hashachar reached out to the wives and daughters of leading Lithuanian and Chassidic Rabbis, including Rav Kanievsky Schlta (his daughter, Reb. Kolodestky), Rav Farbstein Schlita (Rosh Yeshiva Hevron Yeshiva) (Reb. Farbstein, his wife)  Rav Dovid Lau (Reb. Tziporah Lau his wife), Rav Simcha HaCohen Kook’s wife, Rav of Rannana’s wife, Rav Uri Zohar’s wife, Rav Ovadia Yosef zt”l”s daughter-in-law, Rabbanit Yehudit Yosef, Rav Rabniovich of the Kosel’s wife and the wives of  Vizhnitzer, Gurer, Alexander, Slonimer, Tulnar, Sanzer, Erluyer, Vaslur Rebbes, as well as the wife of the Rebbe of Toldos Avraham Yitzchak -- just a partial list!

Each Rebbetzin wrote to one specific mother.  The letters were replete with words of warmth, encouragement and support; some even included the Rebbetzin’s cell phone number, and invited the mother to call and talk. The letter was included in the Shalach Manos, delivered to each mom by our volunteers.  Here’s a sampling of the letters:

·        “You are a living example and symbol of dealing with difficulties and suffering. Your pain will be healed by The Ultimate Healer, The One Who watches over us from on high”

·        “On the day which we celebrate together with our entire nation, the miracle of salvation from danger which lurked, we acutely feel the pain of the great loss of your precious son.”

·        “From a warm heart of a mother and grandmother: to me Purim is a time when I can express some of my feelings to you. We are blessed to live here in Yerushalayim, the holy city, a life of Torah centered on the yeshiva. But we know and feel daily that it is in the merit of young adults like your son and through Divine assistance that we have this privilege.  We also have this privilege because of mothers like you, links in the chain of generations of Jewish mothers who sacrificed their most precious and prized possession for the good of all Jews and for the good of our land.”

·        “You raised your son, loved and cherished him and invested in him.  Your son is holy because he died only because he was Jewish, he died sanctifying G-d’s name.  He is in Garden of Eden, and is happier there than he could ever have been here on earth. Your job as his mom is not over.  You can continue to ‘raise him’-raise his neshama (soul) by dedicating everything you do each day to raise his soul.”

http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4633450,00.html