Grief for Daniel Viflic

Tragically, just 16 years old, Daniel Viflic, who was critically injured by an anti-tank missile, which was fired by terrorists from Gaza at the school bus he was riding ten days ago in the South of Israel, succumbed from his wounds, and he died yesterday.

Baruch Dayan HaEmet.

I do not recall such an outpouring of people, and grief, in Beit Shemesh.

Surely over a thousand people came late last night (on Erev Pessach - a busy time for orthodox Jews) to the funeral at the Eretz Hachaim Cemetery in Beit Shemesh.

It was indicative of the volume of people who came to mourn and console, that the ample car parking for the cemetery overflowed on to the main 38 Highway and onwards for another kilometer.

The show of unity, and shared pain, with the Viflic family was staggering.

An unspeakable tragedy, shared by so many.

Vehi zichro baruch.

----------

The Fund established to help the Viflic family is still open - donations can be made at:
https://lemaanachai.org/donations.aspx

Chose the option "Terror Victim Fund".

Comments

  1. Anonymous21 April 2011 at 14:05

    This is a tribute to both the family in general and Daniel HY"D in particular. Chazal say that you can tell a person's true nature "B'Kiso, B'Kasso, U'vKosso". I've never seen any of them "b'Kosso", so I can't speak to that. I do not recall seeing Itzik or Tamar angry, even when sorely provoked (particularly in the recent JKN Te'uda incident), so I can't speak to that either. The only thing that I've seen is "b'Kisso", in the aforementioned JKN incident, when they showed extreme grace under pressure; their response then to unwaranted attacks on their integrity served to exhibit exemplary personal character - character that made those who dealt with them feel close to them to the point where we all viewed their tragedy as our own.

    Those who knew Daniel HY"D can say that the apple did not fall far from the tree. I had the privilege of knowing him - my son was in Daniel's class in elementary school, and remaind friendly with him in the past two years as well. Daniel was a frequent guest in our house, and was always a pleasure to have around - he was quiet, well-mannered, and soft-spoken, and was also friendly to my son's younger siblings - they enjoyed talking to him, and he seemed genuinely interested in speaking to them as well. As a parent, one of the hardest things I've ever had to do was break the news of Daniel's Petira not only to my older son, but to the younger children - they each felt that they, too, had lost a good friend. That such a (relatively) young boy had the maturity and compassion to deal with younger children in a way that they all felt so close to him is a tribute to both his Midos and the parents that raised him.

    Yehi Zichro Baruch, and may his parents and sister have a Nechama amongst all the Aveilim of Tzion and Yerushalayim.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Marrying a Soloveitchik

Image
Mazaltov! My nephew, Gedaliah Kestenbaum married Devori Soloveitchik in Jerusalem last week. Gedaliah has married into rabbinical aristocracy .    Devori is the daughter of  Rabbi Yitzchak Zev Soloveitchik, and the grand-daughter of Rabbi  Meshulam Dovid (Reb Dovid) Soloveitchik , who is Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Brisk (one of the two) in Jerusalem . The Soloveitchik's are a rabbinical dynasty descended from Rabbi  Yosef Dov (HaLevi) Soloveitchik (The "Beis Halevi") and his son Rabbi  Chaim Soloveitchik ("Reb Chaim Brisker"). Rav Chaim's sons Rabbi  Yitzchak Zev (Reb Velvel) Soloveitchik ("The GRIZ" The Brisker Rov) and Rabbi  Moshe Soloveitchik seem to have gone in different hashkafik directions. Whereas Reb Velvel's descendents are predominantly right wing hareidim, Rav Moshe's branch are leaders in the Modern Orthodox/National Religious hashkafa – most notably Rav Joseph Ber Soloveitchik ("The Rav")
Read more

Hoax Letter Sent to Synagogue

Image
            (Beis Tefillah Synagogue, Ramat Beit Shemesh) The following hoax letter has been sent to members of the Beis Tefillah Synagogue board of management, as if it was written by Rabbi CM [ed. name respectfully withheld] who serves as their rabbi: I think that as long as David Morris sets policy for L.A [ed. Lema'an Achai ], and is their public face,  I will not allow L.A. to use the Shul for fundraising purposes. This will change if: 1)David M apologizes publicly for stating,and insinuating again and again(in many forums,but especially in his childish Tzedek Tzedek blog) that , as a group ,  "Rabbis" (of RBSA ) are guilty of aiding and abetting and enabling child molesters.(And that of course that leaves LA to come to the rescue of our children.) OR IF  2)LA  publicly , clearly,and unambiguously disavows such statements .They must say--we clearly,and unambiguously ,disavow  statements or blogs which say or imply that  Rabbis  of RBSA (as a group ) aid or a
Read more