Gavriel Sassoon, who suffered the loss of seven children after a fire burned down his family’s Brooklyn home on Friday night just two and a half years ago, wrote an open letter to the Azan family, who lost a mother and three children when a fire broke out in their home early Monday morning due to an unattended menorah.
Gavriel writes to the father of the Azan family:
“I mourn for you, my brother Yosef. The fire by my house also occurred on rosh chodesh—Rosh Chodesh Nissan, the day that the nesi’im began bringing their sacrifices to consecrate the altar in the Mishkan. By you, the fire took place on Chanukah itself. We were part of the same community and our children learned in the same schools. Some of them were even friends in the same class.
The nesi’im consecrated the altar to make the Mishkan useable for its holy service. On rosh chodesh, G-d asked for sacrifices to be brought in order to atone for the diminishing of the moon. The Temple does not exist today. Therefore, G-d takes the righteous from among us in order to be an atonement.
Our families were worthy enough to fulfill the pasuk of: ‘Among those who approach Me I will be proved holy; in the sight of all the people I will be honored.’ Not only were they close to G-d, but they also brought the rest of the nation closer to G-d.
Yosef, now you are no longer just one of the regular people . . . Now you must rise. This is the command of your life! Without it, there is no way to cope with a pain so all-encompassing.
How do you rise? You must simply love. Accept with love the tribulations and suffering. Love Hashem. Love everyone in the whole nation of Israel and do whatever you can for them. In the power of that love, it is possible to overcome all of the feelings that will continually try to pull you down and silence you. Feel that you are really resting in Hashem’s embrace. Love is life.” (YWN)