HaGaon HaRav Gershon Edelstein on Wednesday sent letters to the Paley and Lederman families, who lost their sons in the Ramot terror attack.

Since the Rosh Yeshivah feels too weak to travel to Yerushalayim to pay a shiva call to the families, he sat down on Tuesday evening to write a letter and asked that it be delivered to the Paley’s home in Ramot and the Lederman family in Elad.

After words of consolation, HaRav Edelstein wrote: “We don’t know the ways of Shamayim, but in a tragedy such as this when small children are taken in such a horrific way – pure souls who haven’t sinned – there’s no din that applies to them – and therefore the shaila is asked: ”מה זאת עשה אלוקים לנו.”

“For there’s no coincidence in the world and what happened was intended not only for the family but for every person. Therefore, we must delve into why Hashem did this.”

“It’s brought in the Gemara – it’s written on a person whose son died, and one of the Amoraim came to comfort him and said to him: ‘חשיב את לאתפרסי אדרא’ – and Rashi explains: ‘You’re considered chashuv enough in Shamayim for you and your children to be punished for the generation.’ That is, the son is a tzaddik with no sins and his death is a kapparah on the sins of the generation in order that we’ll wake up and do teshuvah. And the parents are also chashuv for their tza’ar atones for the generation and inspires teshuvah. And this is what we’re tasked with: ‘Let us search and investigate our ways’ – we must examine our deeds through learning mussar regularly and not distract ourselves from the issues we need to correct.”

“And like we found that Rebbe Akiva said at the death of his sons – that he was comforted by the great zikui harabim generated by their deaths, and also Nadav and Aviyahu, who were greater than Moshe and Aharon in the zichu harabim via their deaths, and it was worthwhile for them to die in order to be zocheh in such great zechuyos of zikui harabim.”

“And the matter is dependent on the entire tzibur – to be inspired and be mechazeik through the regular limmud of mussar, each person according to his nature, what he feels is mechazeik him – and this will add zechuyos to Klal Yisrael, and the chashuve family will be doubly comforted.”

At the end of the letter, the Rosh Yeshivah wrote: “ההורים היקרים הרה”ג ר’ אברהם נח בן יהודית שליט”א לרפו”ש, יזכה יחד עם רעייתו תחי’ לרוב נחת מכל צאצאיהם היקרים שיחי’ מתוך בריאות שלימה, לשמחת לב כל בני המשפחה, ומעתה אך ששון ושמחה ישיגוכם ונסו יגון ואנחה לאורך ימים מדושני עונג”.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)