Page 29 - חזקו בשנה החולפת

silent with wonder: Srulik was not just buying leichter, but
was actually building his own Beis Hamikdosh.
My Son Still Lives
‘During the Shiva we were visited by the venerated Goan R’
Avrohom Genichovski, mere weeks before his petira. We
didn’t know at the time that he himself was seriously ill. He
sat with us and, being a father who had himself lost his child,
he said warmly,’ His name was Yisroel Chaim? Od Yisroel Chai
– he still lives. His words penetrated our hearts and gave us
renewed energy to continue.
‘From then we constantly seek places where Srulik still lives.
After all, it is impossible that a human being should just leave ‘When the Siyum Hashas approached he started planning
the world without leaving something tangible – one must
just seek it.’
These words seem to me to be very lofty and rather
incomprehensible. I ask ‘and do you find it?’
‘Certainly,’ she replies. ‘We human beings with our earthly
vision think that only that which we see exists. That is totally him in his learning. Everything was all set for the next Shas
wrong. From when Srulik was taken from us I’ve learned to
look for those parts of Srulik that still live on.
‘His devoted friends from Yeshiva were terrible shattered
by Srulik’s passing. But they didn’t let the pain and longing
overwhelm them. Till today they are involved in various good
deeds to ensure that ‘Od Yisroel Chai’ – Srulik lives on and his finish a mesechta a group of choshuve bochurim come
good deeds continue.
‘One of Srulik’s friends sent us an anonymous letter: “I
always knew that my strengths and talents are not the best;
I was always considered a weak average. Srulik gave me a
lot of encouragement not to give up. Simply observing his
refined den amour evoked in me the desire to learn and grow.
His sudden early death shook me terribly – the difficulty of
seeing the ‘best of the best’ among us uprooted so tragically
tore my young heart. That’s when I decided to take from
Srulik his elevated Tefilla of ‘Ahava Raba’.
‘”You parents surely know,” continued the anonymous
bochur, “that Srulik would always sob emotionally during
the brocho of Ahava Raba. Nobody could remain unmoved
when they saw him daven. I decided to try to also shed
tears during Ahava Raba like Srulik did. When I reached that
Tefilla an image of my precious friend Srulik swam before my
eyes, absolutely life like. A cry tore out of me, ‘Ribono Dhel
Olam,’ I implored, ‘open my heart that I should be able to learn decided that he wanted to help other parents who are also
instead of Srulik.’
‘”I wish to end my tale,” concluded the bochur, “a few weeks
ago I started taking Gemara tests and received a score of
over 90%!”
‘I put the letter away securely, and take it out and read it
every once in a while and I am comforted. True, Srulik was
taken from us but his heilige Tefilla of Ahava Raba lives on.
Oid Bnei Yisroel Chai! His elevated davening and hot tears
shine a light onto the pages of gemara for a bochur who toils
in Torah for Srulik’s zechus.
‘When Srulik was ten years old Mifal Hashas started the new
cycle of learning the entire Shas. Srulik decided to start
learning Shas with the aim of completing Shas at 18 years
old. He would get up at five in the morning to learn without
anybody knowing. One morning I woke up earlier than usual
and saw my precious boy swaying over a large Gemara as he
learnt diligently. This was not a passing childish phase; he
continued learning like this day after day for many years.
the next round of learning. This time he wanted to cover
the entire Shas with mefarshim. It was not easy for him
to find chavrusos to learn an entire blatt of Gemara with
mefarshum out of the Yeshiva’s normal sedraim schedule,
but finally he managed to convince a few bochurim to join
learning cycle but the Bashefer wanted otherwise.
‘The Shas cycle which he started at ten years old was
completed in Shomayim, but the chavrusos which he had
arranged for the next round of learning commenced with
Shas and mefarshim as he had planned. Every time they
home to us to celebrate the Siyum.
‘That is the koach of eternity. His good deeds live on, he
is still affecting us, and we are still seeing the fruits of his
labours bloom right here on this World.’
Indeed,Od Bnei Chai
A Mother is always a Mother
‘My husband was very broken following the death of our
son. After all, Srulik was his chavrusa and they would spend
hours learning together, creating a unique bond of closeness.
In the beginning, he literally could not recover at all from
such a massive blow. Then he discovered the wonderful
organization ‘Meoros’ from New York. They helped him find
a way ‘up from the ground’ and gave him the ability to start
fresh.
‘And that was how the kernel of ‘Chizki’ was born. My
husband climbed out of the difficult place he was in and
facing this most bitter tragedy, and help them survive the
extreme hardship of this most painful loss. To this end, he
travels the length and breadth of the country comforting
and supporting bereaved parents.