Tragedy: Shalom Saginer a”h 

Shalom Saginer a”h , a four-year-old grandson of Rabbi Shalom Arush, drowned in a pool in Mexico on the 25th of Av (August 8) while his family was on vacation. 

The truth is that this was no vacation – it was pure self-sacrifice. They were traveling around North America to strengthen Jews and communities that needed them. They begged them to come to a small tourist town in Baja California, Mexico. No minyan, no synagogue, nothing. His mother didn’t want to go. Rav Asaf Saginer, Shalom’s father, said that he sang the Friday night prayers with the children outside at a lookout over the beach. When they finished, little Shalom said that he could see the angels. He could see the angels!  

One of the last things little Shalom did was request to sing “Bar Yochai” on Shabbat morning. They also took a break in the middle of their “American tour” of sorts to go all the way to Uman. His mother prepared all the food for Rabbanit Arush’s women’s trip there over Tu B’Av. On the flight back to America, Shalom asked, “Are we going back to Uman after this?” His father answered, “No, we’re going back to Israel.” But really, he knew he was going right back to Rebbe Nachman. He always wanted to sing “Rebbe Nachman roared – there is no despair!” The men sang it for him before they closed the doors of the hearse to drive to the Mount of Olives for the burial. 

Emuna begins where our ability to understand ends. 

We can understand a little bit. Rabbi Arush shlita began his eulogy quoting Rabbi David Chai Abuchatzeira shlita, who said that Shalom “was the very high neshama of a Tanna.” He was a great tzaddik. And this was his tikkun (rectification) – to come into this world, learn Aleph-Bet, and then leave this world as a kapparah, an atonement, for the Jewish people.  

Rabbi Arush also said that Rabbi Abuchetzeira said that he wanted to die in a pure place – so he ran into an outdoor pool, which is essentially a gigantic mikvah. He was a huge tzaddik who died in purity.  

Shalom’s father said that he learns the “Chok Breslev” every day, which is the books of Rebbe Nachman broken into daily sections. He was already a few days behind before the tragedy happened. He knew he could not focus on learning, so he opened to the prayer of Rebbe Natan of Breslev zt”l for the first day he had missed. He found that the prayer for that day is Prayer 33 in Section II, in the second section of the prayer (in English, The Fiftieth Gate, Volume 7 page 53) which is an awesome prayer mourning the loss of the tzaddikim.

He read the first section of the prayer, which includes “Master of the World, teach me how to compose a eulogy, on how greatly we have been broken…Oy What will be with us? What can we say? Who can compose for us a proper, bitter eulogy to cry over our great loss?…” I don’t think he could have prepared better words to eulogize his son if he had tried. Everyone was sobbing loudly as he read the prayer…  

So, we hold all of it together, one big mumbo jumbo. Do we cry? Of course we cry! But we don’t cry with despair. This is not total loss. It’s incredibly painful, but we also hold onto emuna! Hashem loves us, He knows exactly what he is doing. It’s not a good thing that happened, but it is for the absolute best.  

Rabbi Arush said when his little granddaughter Faige Chana a”h was killed in a terrible head-on collision some years ago, that we have no idea what she achieved in her death. How many people came closer to Hashem, how much good was done in her merit. I can only hazard to guess that the same can be said here.  

As Rabbi Arush says, “We never let go of emuna, no matter what.” NO MATTER WHAT. 

I already got a question asking, “How could we sing on this ‘Only better and better’? What kind of “better” are we hoping for? How could this possibly be good?”  

Rabbi Linder shlita, the Mashgiach of Chut shel Chessed, said in his eulogy that asking questions on Hashem is like peering into an abyss. Don’t lean over that abyss – you could fall and fall, G-d forbid. No questions! Do you know all of a soul’s rectifications? Can you see everything like the Heavenly Court? You think you know something to ask questions?!  

He said that there is a phrase “Chukei Chaim” – the Torah is laws of life. The root of the word for “law” in the phase is “chok” – which is the type of law that we cannot understand in this world with our human, limited minds. Hebrew has other words for “law,” such as “mishpat” which is a type of law that we can understand its need. But a “chok” is a law that simply is – we must simply recognize that only in the Next World can we understand.   

Life is a chok – there is so much that we cannot understand. No questions, only emuna!  

Let me answer with a few other answers from Rabbi Arush: He said that “only better and better” ALWAYS refers to spirituality. Physically, we don’t know what exactly will be, but spiritually, with emuna, it only gets better and better. 

Rabbi Arush also said once that the idea is that every day we do another cheshbon nefesh (spiritual accounting), more personal prayer, more closeness to Hashem. that wipes away our sins and brings us closer to Hashem. So then, Hashem makes everything better and better, physically and spiritually!  

The highest level to understand is that not believing that it’s going to get better is the biggest humiliation for Hashem that’s possible. Every parent only wants good, the very best, for their child. If this is true for flesh and blood, how much more for our Creator, who created the entire world only to do good for us?! 

Hence, if we don’t believe it, it’s din (judgement) on our heads, G-d should save us. But if we do believe it, especially when it’s hard, then it’s a big merit for us. And we get what we believe in!!! So, if you believe that it will only get better – my Father in Heaven loves me and only does good, it’s going to get better! – then Hashem will indeed make it happen!!!  

Rabbi Arush also said during his eulogy that there is no break from the Torah. Even through “Bein Hazmanim,” the summer break, every day we must learn! He also called on the women to say Tehillim (Psalms) every day.  

Rabbi Elchadad shlita mentioned in his eulogy that this is just one of a few tragedies, a few holy children that Hashem took this week. We must wake up! We must listen to Hashem’s warning! We cannot harden our hearts!  

We must do something in little Shalom’s merit. Add holiness, add Torah learning, add modesty, add personal prayer, support more spreading emuna – like his parents were doing with such self-sacrifice when he died.  

Shalom a”h came, and left, this world in order to pave the way for the Geula and Mashiach with mercy. It was literally written on the cover for his little body “for the Redemption of the Jewish people.”  

We must continue the work he started!  

“You might not be able to finish the work – but neither are you exempt from it!” (Ethics of the Fathers 2:16) 

This is not the usual “Mizmor L’Todah”, “A Song of Thanksgiving”, that Rabbi Arush leads his followers to sing with him all the time. 

This is real, pure, emuna – as heavy as it gets. 


Rav Asaf Saginer, crying over his young son 


The grandfathers, sitting across from him 


The Rebbe for Gan Cheder, who just finished teaching little Shalom a”h the Aleph-Bet 


Surrounded by their family 


Singing “Hashem always loves me, and it will only be better and better”

*** 


Rachel Avrahami grew up in Los Angeles, CA, USA in a far-off valley where she was one of only a handful of Jews in a public high school of thousands. She found Hashem in the urban jungle of the university. Rachel was privileged to read one of the first copies of The Garden of Emuna in English, and the rest, as they say, is history. She made Aliyah and immediately began working at Breslev Israel.   
 
Rachel is now the Editor of Breslev Israel’s English website. She welcomes questions, comments, articles, and personal stories to her email: rachel.avrahami@breslev.co.il.