Meir Avital was lying on the hospital bed. His head exploded with pain. As his eyes shuttered against his will, images from his life flooded into his memory like a stream-- Riding a bike down the cobblestone street back in Tiveriah as autumn leaves fell from a darkening sky. Swaying under the canopy and catching his bride’s glowing smile under her thick white veil as the stars winked on them from above. Cradling his firstborn child against his chest for the very first time.
“Meir...Rabbi Meir, can you hear me?”
A voice broke the air. The memories vanished like a fleeting shadow. His eyes opened, and amidst the blinding blur, a familiar face loomed over his, eyes wide and concerned.
“Meir...Your time on earth is running out. We must pray together!”
“Rebbi...” Meir’s voice crackled, low and barely audible. “Rebbi, please, promise me one thing….Please, promise me that you will do this!”
“What!? What is it, Meir?”
“Promise me...You will help my daughters get married...when I am gone.”
Moments later, Meir Avital’s soul gently slipped away from this world. As R’ Rephoel sat in the hospital room, his hands would not stop trembling as the tears fell. One of his closest students had just passed, and not only that, but he left him with a very important mission.
When a pleasant-sounding young lady called him up a few weeks ago and introduced herself as Shira Avital, R’ Rephoel almost dropped the phone. He instantly recognized the last name, and the chilling vow that he had made so many years ago. Meir’s daughter was now engaged, and she was turning to the one man that she was told could help her.
The more they spoke, the more R’ Rephoel was in awe. Though she could hardly remember him, Shira had the same pure faith as her father, and the same courage in the face of hardship. R’ Rephoel assured her that she had nothing to worry about, and despite her being impoverished, he would make sure that she would not lack anything that she needed.
R’ Rephoel, a man of simple means, is doing everything he can to raise the funds to help Shira get married. Her wedding is one short month away, and she is still missing many important items. To perform the important mitzvah of hachnasat kallah for a girl who grew up with no father and to fulfill a man’s dying wish, click here.