Migdal HaEmek Chief Rabbi Yitzchok Dovid Grossman Shlita visited with the Shaar family in Yishuv Talmon. The rav wanted to visit with the family to give them chizuk. It appears their son Gilad, who is one of the three yeshiva students being held hostage by Hamas, visited with Rav Grossman in Migdal HaEmek on the occasion of his bar mitzvah three years ago.

Mr. Ofir Shaar told Rabbi Grossman “On his bar mitzvah Gilad told us he has a special request. He wanted to visit with you to get a bracha from you on his bar mitzvah. So what don’t we do for our son? We told Gilad ‘Rabbi Grossman is a very busy man. Perhaps we will be able to get in for a minute or two. To our surprise, you spent a half hour with him.’”

The rav gave them and those present divrei chizuk, citing “Shema Yisrael you are going to war” a number of times. “Why davka Shema Yisrael? Because this represents the acceptance of Ohl Malchus Shomayim with happiness and thanking HKBH for the bad as well as the good.”

The rav explained the one is not always successful in war, other than beating the war against one’s inclination, which is valued by Hashem.

“Gilad, Eyal and Naftali are captives by the hand of HKBH, not Hamas. When a Jew accepts Ohl Malchus Shomayim and Klall Yisrael davens and with so much done on their behalf, they are in HKBH’s hands, who will certainly act towards them with chessed”.

Names for Tehillim:

1. Yaakov Naftali ben Rachel Devorah

2. Gilad Michael ben Bat Galim

3. Eyal ben Iris Teshurah

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)