Feigie Channa, OB”M

Editor’s note: Our beloved rabbi and teacher Rav Shalom Arush shlit’a spoke the following words of consolation and encouragement after the funeral of his granddaughter in Jerusalem on Sunday, January 25, 2015. This was in answer to a reporter from the media who asked Rav Shalom, “How do you explain the tragic death of an eighteen month-old baby who never committed a sin in her life?” Here is Rav Arush’s answer:

You ask a question? I ask a thousand questions! Why don’t people respect one another? Why are people so quick to harm one another? Why don’t people judge each other fairly? Why aren’t they considerate of one another? Do you want me to keep going? I have many questions…

Why look at the world when the Jewish People can’t get along with each other? I don’t deal in politics, nor am I involved in politics, but look how we’re torn apart with dissension, strife and senseless fighting. Instead of standing together, we’re splintered into all types of tiny groups; it’s all around us and I need not go into details.

Every mother and father wants to see their children getting along with each other. Hashem is a loving Father, much more than any of us can fathom. Like a loving father, He wants only the best for His children. But we must provide a receptacle for Divine abundance, all the gifts that the Creator wants to give us. That receptacle is love and peace. The whole world depends on love and peace. Where there’s no love and no peace, the world becomes a terrible place. In fact, it can’t exist. No wonder everything seems to be coming apart all over the world…

Many great tzaddikim lost little children – Rebbe Nachman of Breslev, Rebbe Meir HaNess, Rebbe Yochanan, just to name a few. As I wrote in the Garden of Emuna, some souls come to this earth for a brief period of time; they perform their designated mission and then depart from this world.

My granddaughter’s death is undoubtedly an atonement for all the strife within the Jewish People, for the lack of love and peace. The reason that people don’t get along is because they lack emuna. If everyone would be happy with their own lot in life, we’d have peace and harmony. Emuna brings a person to be happy with what he has and not try to take from anyone else. Emuna is therefore the key to peace, not only among us, but globally.

When it comes to emuna, there is no difference between a Jew and a non-Jew; we both must believe in the One G-d. Yet, when it comes to the mitzvot, we Jews must keep 613 while the non-Jews are only obligated to keep seven. Since there’s no difference between us in emuna, we must teach emuna worldwide. Already, tens of thousands of non-Jews read my books. They must learn emuna too and it’s our job to teach them.

Yes, I cry, and I feel tremendous pain. Just this past Shabbat, my granddaughter, may she rest in peace, was with us. Yet, I accept the Creator’s decree with absolute love and with no questions whatsoever. He is just and He is compassionate, and everything He does is for the absolute best without a trace of doubt. This must stimulate us to bring more love and peace into the world. We do that by spreading emuna. This is a solemn responsibility for all of us. May we merit a world of peace and love, and may no one have any more suffering, amen.