This story breaks our hearts and gives us hope at the same time.
It's the story of Ariel Zohar, a 12-year-old boy who lost his entire family in the massacre.
He went for his regular morning jog that day, and while he was out, Hamas terrorists broke into his home and killed his father, Yaniv, his mother, Yasmin, and his two sisters, Techelet and Keshet. Ariel is the only survivor.
His Kibbutz, Nachal Oz, was still under mortar fire when heroic ZAKA volunteers offered to pay one more visit to the family’s home. They asked Ariel which item he would like them to bring back.
"Bring my father’s tefillin," he responded.
You see, Ariel was two weeks away from turning 13 and becoming bar mitzvah. He had a fresh, brand-new pair of tefillin, but he asked for his father's. His dear father, who was so excited to see him wrapping tefillin for the first time, would not be with him.
The tefillin that Ariel requested were a gift from his grandfather, who had survived the atrocities of the Holocaust and rebuilt his family in the Holy Land.
Ariel lost everything, but not his faith.
His elderly grandfather, who is still alive, told him: “I lost my parents when I was 14. You lost your parents when you were 12. I survived, and you will too!”
Ariel, we don't know if you will ever see this. But if you do, we believe we can say on behalf of all 16 million Jews around the world:
We all love you so much.
We all mourn and cry with you.
We all celebrate with you.
And we will all be here for you.
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