Israel’s Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter wrote an emotional message from the bedside of his critically wounded son, Neriyah, ahead of the Simchat Torah holiday, thanking those who have prayed for his recovery and reflecting on Jewish resilience.
“As I sit here at my son Neriyah’s bedside, I am thinking about what the most appropriate message would be as we enter the Simchat Torah holiday. Neriyah is still on life support and my first thought is one of immense gratitude for the support and all the prayers on his behalf. Your prayers have given my family and me tremendous strength in the knowledge that prayers matter. Prime Minister Netanyahu visited us in the hospital today to share a much-needed sense of comfort and support."
"My second thought is of the importance of reminding ourselves, and anyone still willing to listen, that the October 7 attack on Simchat Torah three years ago was cultivated in an ideology that believes killing Jews is admirable and that there is no place for an Israel, any Israel. It is the same ideology that murdered Nathaniel Shukrun just before Yom Kippur, tried to murder my second son right after Yom Kippur, and tried to crash a passenger jet on its way to Tel Aviv two days before the anniversary of Israel’s own September 11. Until we defeat this ideology, we are all like Neriyah, on life support."
"And thought #3: People don’t understand Israeli resilience. Neriyah is Hebrew for “G-d’s candle." We gave him that name because he was born just before the Sabbath when the Biblical portion that begins with Numbers 8:2 is read in synagogues. In the verse, G-d instructs Moses to tell Aharon to set up seven lamps in a way that they face forward and give light in front of the Temple’s golden lamp stand. Aaron’s merit in this task was greater than all the other leaders who participated in the consecration of the holy Temple. Greater why? Because the consecration was a one-time occurrence, while illuminating the Temple, Jerusalem, was a permanent and ongoing duty."
"History has proven the light’s eternity. Mark Twain perhaps put it best: “If the statistics are right, the Jews constitute but one percent of the human race. It suggests a nebulous dim puff of star dust lost in the blaze of the Milky Way. Properly the Jew ought hardly to be heard of, but he is heard of, has always been heard of. He is as prominent on the planet as any other people, and his commercial importance is extravagantly out of proportion to the smallness of his bulk. His contributions to the world’s list of great names in literature, science, art, music, finance, medicine, and abstruse learning are also away out of proportion to the weakness of his numbers. He has made a marvellous fight in the world, in all the ages; and has done it with his hands tied behind him. He could be vain of himself, and be excused for it. The Egyptian, the Babylonian, and the Persian rose, filled the planet with sound and splendor, then faded to dream-stuff and passed away; the Greek and the Roman followed, and made a vast noise, and they are gone; other peoples have sprung up and held their torch high for a time, but it burned out, and they sit in twilight now, or have vanished. The Jew saw them all, beat them all, and is now what he always was, exhibiting no decadence, no infirmities of age, no weakening of his parts, no slowing of his energies, no dulling of his alert and aggressive mind. All things are mortal but the Jew; all other forces pass, but he remains. What is the secret of his immortality?"
"Please continue to pray for Neriyah’s recovery, perhaps next Simchat Torah he will be able to rejoice together with his darling wife and children.""