The tragedy at the Ein Akev spring in the Negev: The funeral of the young man Yehoshua Ram, a student of the Grodna-Beer Yaakov yeshiva, left today from his parents' home at 25 Ben Zakkai Street in the city of Bnei Brak, to the Elad cemetery.
The deceased is the son of the late Rabbi Yisrael Noam Ram, one of the greatest students of the Gaon Rabbi Yitzhak Zilberstein at the 'Beit David' kollel.
Rabbi Silberstein, who is very close to and fond of his student, heard about the disaster with immense pain, and expressed himself this morning in the ears of my deceased father: "Everyone is sitting and crying, all of Israel is crying with you.".
On his way to the funeral procession, Rabbi Zilberstein said: "Speaking words of eulogy is forbidden, since it is the month of Nissan, and speaking words of encouragement and awakening to the generation and the entire public - I am not worthy, after all, everyone knows for themselves what they need to strengthen themselves and improve their ways, so I will say a few words of comfort to the dear parents.".
In his painful funeral procession, he said: "We stand and are stunned. Eulogies are forbidden, and therefore we will not. But I want to tell this entire holy audience some reflections that I heard from my rabbis. I was walking down the street in Bnei Brak, and I see a boy standing with his father, and I say to him: 'Dad, you know, in this house up there they are doing lessons, and here they are doing rehearsals, and here they are writing Torah novellas.' The father stood there in amazement, what happened here, and he did not know what was going on here. He met me, and I told him I am now going to my brother-in-law, Rabbi Chaim, the great of the Jewish nation, we will tell him and hear what he says about it.
""We came to Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, and he tells me, I think this child was here in the world, and for some reason, God said so, that he had to return here again. These words mean that he returned here because he studied here in a yeshiva in a previous incarnation, but we always forget what happened in the previous incarnation, and here we will not forget about him. That is why the child repeats things that happened here, and we need to remember that there is such a thing, Rabbi Chaim told me.
""We all study in the same yeshiva with this great father, truly magnificent, him and his family. And this righteous young man who was a wonder, studied in a truly wonderful way. I heard people say truly wonderful things about him, that right now, during this time of war, there were those who didn't engage in Torah that much and he engaged in Torah in a wonderful way, that's what I heard, that's what they say that he sat and studied without stopping, that's what they say, and it's obvious that it's true. We know the father, may he be healthy, he never stopped speaking from the beginning.
""So it's possible, I just want to say the thoughts of the heart, it's possible that he will return here too, I just want to tell my father, these are not words of comfort, but we need to know that there is such a thing in the Torah. He was here.".
""I just want to state the facts, you know, he didn't die, he went away for a short time. It could be. According to what my brother-in-law told me, you know, it's not that he died, but he went away for a short time, and he will return here. It's temporary. You see the Habra Kadisha here, it could be that what they're leading him to now, it's temporary, he will return, you will know or you won't know.
""It's not that he died and left, but this burial is temporary. That's how the view should be. It's not that he's being buried forever. It's the guidance of God, blessed be He, in His abundant mercy.".
Rabbi Zilberstein presented an initiative to elevate the soul of the deceased: "We are here, my friends in the kollel. I will tell you what my plan is. We will do something like this in the kollel. We will now publish an extensive book with Torah novellas. You will write the insights you have, and we will all, each and every one of us, also write Torah novellas. We will publish it and make it public, and we will teach it. And we will do great things in the world for the elevation of his soul. And we will merit the coming of the Messiah soon in our days, and you will be filled with much joy, and we will say Amen.".
After reciting the Kaddish, before the funeral procession departed, the family members approached Rabbi Zilberstein and told him that this morning they found a notebook in the deceased's drawer in which he had written a daily "soul journal" for himself, for the entire past six months, one thing every day, with the writing at the beginning of the notebook, "We have forbidden our rabbi Gershom.".
The Rabbi was very moved: "Now it is certainly permissible to read the notebook, and it is even a mitzvah to read and be strengthened. And in the book that we issue for the deceased, we will include, without a vow, a part of the notebook, so that they may see and learn, from which they may see and do likewise.".
