When a 95 year old Holocaust Survivor, Esther Greizer passed away this week, and left no descendants, her extended family were worried they wouldn't have 10 people at the funeral to show her her final respects and escort her on her final journey.
Although she married, she never merited to have children due to the cruel medical experiments done on her by the Nazis. As a result it looked like she was going to have almost no one there to remember her and accompany her on her final journey.
Yet the word got out, especially as it was Israel's Holocaust Remembrance Day.
When the funeral began, thousands of people she had never met from all walks of life, showed up to pay their respects to Esther and accompany her on her final journey. (Click here to see the video)
She may have had no children, but even in her final journey, she conveyed a message of the resilience of the Jewish people!
Indeed, in this week's Torah portion "Kedoshim" ("Holy Ones"), we are instructed to be Holy and be a Holy People.
The Jewish idea of holiness and specifically the wording in this reading, are about learning to insert and be mindful of our spiritual values and direction, even in the mundane and how we choose to live in all areas of our life.
It means living a life in which try to live and be mindful of a higher purpose in the choices we make, in the actions that we choose to go about our daily living, in how we treat our fellows, and how we might go the extra mile to make a difference to others, even when not required by law.
As Israel and the Jewish people walk between days of Passover, the counting of the Omer, Holocaust Remembrance Day, Israel's Yom Hazikaron and so much more, it is more important than ever, to remember that we have been charged with a powerful mission in life, which we must never lose sight of even if it isn't always easy to succeed.
G-d tells Moses to tell the people, "be holy, for I am holy". This is understood to mean, that even if the task of living a life of purpose and meaning across the board, is challenging and daunting, we are connected to G-d, and therefore, we have been empowered to make this kind of life a success, not just for us, but for what it does for the world around us.
On Sunday in Hebrew School, we watched how the dozens of children lived and celebrated their Judaism at another fun day of learning. Multiple children in our school are direct descendants of Holocaust survivors, and watching them sing and celebrate their Judaism, as the sirens remembering the millions, were sounding thousands of miles away, was a powerful reminder that Am Yisrael Chai, and nothing and nobody will ever be able to stop that!
You can see more pictures in the links below.
Good Shabbos & Shabbat Shalom
Am Yisrael Chai!
Yisroel