A family of 12 children from the Negev town of Ofakim returned at 4 AM yesterday from a wedding in Bnei Brak, and most of them tumbled off tiredly to sleep. In the morning, the parents awoke a bit late, only to find that everyone else had already left for school. The father even thought, "Thank G-d I have such fine children who help each other get off to school." Though the younger ones usually return at 1 PM, yesterday the kindergarten began new hours, ending at 4 PM. When that hour came and the mother saw that 6-year-old Esther Fruma had not yet come home, she phoned the girl's teacher, who said that Esther had not arrived at all that day. The mother frantically informed the police, and then called the driver of the van that had brought them home. He checked inside his vehicle, which had been parked in an out-of-the-way spot with its dark windows closed and doors locked all day, but did not find the girl. Only after he was asked to check again, around 7 PM, did he notice the lifeless form on the floor near one of the seats.
The grieving family hoped to bury their daughter as early as last night, but the police asked for an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death. The funeral took place in Jerusalem only at 2:00 this afternoon, after the court allowed only an external check and not a full autopsy. Speaking at the funeral were the rabbi of the Ofakim hareidi community, Rabbi Pinkus, who lost his parents in a car crash a few years ago, and Esther Fruma's father.
Rabbi Avraham Deitch, head of a local Kollel and a member of the Ofakim Municipal Council, said that Rabbi Pinkus spoke of the nature of "miracle." He said, "People think of a miracle only in terms of something good that happens, or a tragedy that was 'miraculously' prevented. But here we see that things worked in a Divine and unnatural manner in the opposite direction, in order to implement the 'attribute of strict justice.' I'll give you an example: The van driver usually picks up children in our neighborhood every morning at 7:15. Yesterday morning, he couldn't find his keys - and so he took the other car [instead of going to the van, where he would have found Esther]. He said it was the first time in a year that he couldn't find his keys! This, and other details of the story, are simply 'unnatural'..."
"I'll ask you a hard question," Arutz-7's Yosef Zalmanson said. "Was anything mentioned about the parents being at fault?" "No, and I'll tell you why," Rabbi Deitch said. "Isn't it true that in New York, more people are killed in car accidents than in Jerusalem? Yet we don't say that drivers in New York are more negligent. Statistically speaking, families with 12 children are even more careful than those with smaller families - they have to be. A child just fell out a window and died a few days ago - only one child in the family! But was there talk of negligence?! ... We all go through so many 'almost-tragedies' - yet in this case, with all the unnatural factors I mentioned, it happened."
The grieving family hoped to bury their daughter as early as last night, but the police asked for an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death. The funeral took place in Jerusalem only at 2:00 this afternoon, after the court allowed only an external check and not a full autopsy. Speaking at the funeral were the rabbi of the Ofakim hareidi community, Rabbi Pinkus, who lost his parents in a car crash a few years ago, and Esther Fruma's father.
Rabbi Avraham Deitch, head of a local Kollel and a member of the Ofakim Municipal Council, said that Rabbi Pinkus spoke of the nature of "miracle." He said, "People think of a miracle only in terms of something good that happens, or a tragedy that was 'miraculously' prevented. But here we see that things worked in a Divine and unnatural manner in the opposite direction, in order to implement the 'attribute of strict justice.' I'll give you an example: The van driver usually picks up children in our neighborhood every morning at 7:15. Yesterday morning, he couldn't find his keys - and so he took the other car [instead of going to the van, where he would have found Esther]. He said it was the first time in a year that he couldn't find his keys! This, and other details of the story, are simply 'unnatural'..."
"I'll ask you a hard question," Arutz-7's Yosef Zalmanson said. "Was anything mentioned about the parents being at fault?" "No, and I'll tell you why," Rabbi Deitch said. "Isn't it true that in New York, more people are killed in car accidents than in Jerusalem? Yet we don't say that drivers in New York are more negligent. Statistically speaking, families with 12 children are even more careful than those with smaller families - they have to be. A child just fell out a window and died a few days ago - only one child in the family! But was there talk of negligence?! ... We all go through so many 'almost-tragedies' - yet in this case, with all the unnatural factors I mentioned, it happened."