Over three months have passed since 16-year-old Moishe Kleinerman of Modi'in Illit disappeared after spending Lag b'Omer in Meron, and last week, there were hints of developments in the case with the imposition of a gag order on all details.
Unfortunately, another parallel development is that of rumors surrounding the supposed fate of the boy, and his mother, Gitty, has now appealed to the public not to spread such rumors which are not based on any known facts and only serve to cause additional distress to the family.
Ariel Elharar is a journalist who has been active on behalf of the Kleinerman family throughout the ordeal. "As someone who has been exposed first-hand to all the details of this troubling case, I have been deluged with messages and all kinds of false reports," he wrote at the end of last week.
"This morning," he continued, "Gitty Kleinerman phoned me and told me in tears that the day before, her oldest daughter got on a bus and met up with a friend who told her that she had heard that Moishe had been murdered. Her daughter returned home sobbing, the mother told me.
"Moishe's mother has been going through an unimaginable ordeal for the past 97 days, ever since her son disappeared, and she didn't know what to tell her daugher, other than that all kinds of false rumors are being spread," Elharar said. "She also told her daughter to stay strong and keep praying for her brother's safe return, and not lose hope, until there was some kind of official announcement."
Elharar concluded with the request Gitty Kleinerman made of him -- that he spread this message far and wide. "My beloved Jewish People, first of all I want to thank you, each and every one of you, for praying for my son Moishe, and I want to thank you all for your support, your support of our family in these terrible days," she said.
"I ask of you -- please, take care before you speak or write things that have no basis," she continued. "Every such statement is like an arrow in our hearts. Hearing such things is just devastating. Aside from Moishe, I have seven children at home, children who go to school every day and have to deal with the situation as best they can. So please, take a minute to think before you write anything like that, and imagine to yourself that Moishe was your little brother -- because Moishe Kleinerman is no longer just our son; he's the son of all of us, of all the Jewish People."