* Translated by Janine Muller Sherr
This week in Israel we will commemorate Yom HaZikaron—the Memorial Day for fallen soldiers and victims of terror. Yaakov Nitzan, father of Staff Sgt. Gilad Nitzan, H’yd, who fell in battle in Gaza, asks us to pay attention to a critical phrase from last week’s parasha. This is what he wrote:
In this parasha, two sons of Aaron the High Priest die. Moshe Rabbeinu turns to the mourners— to Aaron and his two remaining sons— with an important message:
You are not alone.
“And Moses said to Aaron and to his sons Eleazar and Itamar…but your kin, all the house of Israel, shall bewail the fire that the Lord has burned.”
This story is not yours alone. The entire house of Israel is with you. You belong to a large family who will mourn your loss— this fire— together with you.
When Aaron the Priest heard the weeping of his brothers—the house of Israel—mourning his tragedy, it lessened his pain and anguish. Similarly, we have felt the Jewish people crying along with us and this has given us comfort and hope.”
May it be God’s will that the entire house of Israel come together not in pain, but in joy.
