Students Take Death to Heart

By Rabbi Moshe Rabin

Do we really care? How do we know? When we hear that something horrible befell another individual, G-d forbid, do we feel their pain? Or do we simply move on with life?

Most of us wonder: Where was it—near my house or child’s school? Could the victim have been a family member or a friend?

Often, we hear that it was nowhere near anyone we know, so we breathe a sigh of relief and continue with our day. Sure, we are saddened, but if our family and children are fine, life continues…

When a tragedy occurred last week in a Boca Raton neighborhood, 30 minutes away from our school in Coral Springs, Florida, the reaction of the students at Rohr Bais Chaya Academy at the Kodsi Campus may surprise you.

Twelve year old Shoshana Rachel Stern, a”h, beloved daughter, granddaughter, sister, friend and student, was struck and killed at 7:05 p.m. Sunday night in a horrible accident.

When the students of Rohr Bais Chaya Academy heard about the tragedy, they were reminded of the words of the Rebbe Rashab that one good deed is worth more than a thousand sighs.

Often one would sigh and continue on with one’s day, because after all, it wasn’t one of their friends, community members or anyone they had ever met or even heard of prior to this tragic event. Instead, Rohr Bais Chaya students decided to extend the hand of friendship during the days of Sefira and each girl took on a hachlota, leiluyi nishmas Shoshana Rachel.

To provide comfort and strength to the parents, the students of Rohr Bais Chaya memorialized their resolutions with a piece of artwork delineating their personal hachlota.

So when you hear of a tragedy, try to be compassionate and caring! Offer support and words of encouragement. And more importantly – take an action to turn every tragedy into a personal stepping stone for growth.

For, in essence, we are all one, like two hands on a single body.

* * *

Recently, the Tolne Rebbe published a story about Rabbi Pinchas Menachem Alter, the previous Rebbe of the Gur Chassidic dynasty:

One of the disciples of Rabbi Yisrael Alter of Gur, known as the “Beis Yisroel,” was very wealthy and at one point lived in New Zealand due to his business dealings.

Once, on a trip to visit his daughter in New York, he entered an elevator only to be greeted by a Jew who asked where he hailed from. He responded that he had just arrived from New Zealand.

The stranger asked him, “Is there is a mikvah in New Zealand?” The wealthy man responded, “I am there for business, not a mikvah.” The stranger responded, “If a Jew finds himself somewhere, he must have a positive impact.” The elevator doors opened, both men exited and went their separate ways.

The wealthy man asked his daughter, who was waiting for him nearby, regarding the identity of the man who had rode in the elevator with him. She responded that he was Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the son-in-law of the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, who would later himself become Rebbe.

Over 40 years passed. The businessman had long since left New Zealand and he was, again, visiting his daughter in New York and went dollars on Sunday by the Rebbe.

When he greeted the Rebbe, the Rebbe asked, “Is there a mikvah already in New Zealand?”

The elderly man was clearly amazed.

“I asked him,” the Rebbe of Gur continued, “‘Tell me, what you were amazed by?'”

He responded that he was amazed by the Rebbe’s memory; after all, forty years had elapsed since their elevator rendezvous!

“And I told him,” the Rebbe of Gur concluded, “that what astounds me is what was on the Rebbe’s mind for forty years—a mikvah in faraway New Zealand. And how bothered he was that there was none there…”

As written in Hayom Yom (23rd Teves): Groaning by itself won’t do a bit of good. A groan is only a key to open the heart and eyes, so as not to sit there with folded arms, but to plan orderly work and activity.