This Lag Ba’Omer, disaster struck our nation to the very core. Thousands of Jews thronged to the graveside of Rav Shimon Bar Yochai on Har Meron to daven and to celebrate. But on what is usually one of the happiest days on our calendar, over forty-five men and boys of all ages were horrifically trampled to death. It is a tragedy that has shaken Jews across the world. The stories that have been circulating are bone-chilling, including the father of eight whose last words were a plea to Hatzolah members to save a little boy’s life before his own.
Among the many questions being asked, so many people are asking the same core questions right now:
What should we be doing now?
How can we show Hashem that His message for us is clear?
“As much as whatever the media portrays, we’re one big beautiful family,” explained R’ Shlomo Katz during an interview with CNN yesterday.
“When we have tragedies like this, anger takes a back seat and just comfort, condolences and genuine care and love are in the front seat…Right now it’s just about, I’m your brother, I’m your sister. Right now, family is what matters more than anything. That’s true always, but that’s especially what we’re sensing right now. ..We’re a people that suffered the loss of 6 million people in the gas chambers…We’re dealing with it in the only way we know how, which is with our hearts wide open.”
Soon, the shock of the event will subside, and over forty-five families will be in mourning. They will have lost brothers, sons and fathers. There are so many widows now left with large families of children who need help to replace the income of their fallen husbands.
Perhaps, Hashem wants us to take this tragedy and channel it into kindness, into action, and into love.
Among the many families who have lost loved ones, the Vaad HaRabbanim has compiled the following list of victims whose families are in dire need of support in the wake of their loss. They lost their primary breadwinners overnight in this unthinkable tragedy and now they urgently need help. Please read their personal stories by clicking on the links below and show them much-needed support by donating generously towards their emergency relief funds:
Rav Shmuel Tzvi Klagsbald, Rosh Kollel, Maggid Shiur, and father of eight: Click here to help.
Yosef Greenbaum, young father of one: Click here to help.
Simcha Bunim Diskind, young father of two: Click here to help.
Mordechai Fekete, father of two, only 23 years old: Click here to help.
Eliezer Goldberg: Click here to help.
Dovid Kraus, father of nine: Click here to help.
Rav Shimon Matlon, beloved father and husband. Click here to help.
For the Vaad HaRabbanim’s primary relief campaign for the victim’s families, click here.
May we never know of such tzaros again.
