Thank You!
Dear Friends,
We would both like to express our deep gratitude to all of you for everything you have done for us. We have been overwhelmed by the calls, the offers of help, the prepared meals, the organised tehillim readings and in general the outpouring of chessed brought about by this trying nisayon (test). For those of you who called or wrote but didn’t get to speak to either of us personally, we have received your messages and your calls of concern are VERY much appreciated. It helps to know that we have such a huge network of support in Ramat Beit Shemesh, Yerushalayim and around the globe. As for news of our Yitzchak Meir, we wish it could be encouraging but unfortunately it isn’t. According to the neurologists and neonatologists at both Shaare Tzedek Hospital and Misgav Ledach Hospital, he has suffered extensive brain damage. His future is therefore uncertain, but not very promising. The doctors even feel that there is a high probability that he will remain in his current state for the rest of his life.
God has some purpose for our precious little neshama, but it is apparently not what we originally had in mind. After consultations with Rabbis, we would like to ask that you no longer include special prayers for a recovery for Yitzchak Meir ben Ella Yapha. As his parents, we will continue to pray for God to do what is good and right for us and for our Yitzchak Meir. We hope to have a Bris Milah for him once the doctors approve (which they said could happen sometime this week), but we will most likely have a quiet ceremony. We are trying to deal with this new reality the best we can. This is truly a great test of our emunah and bitachon (faith & trust). We have been taught that nothing in life can be taken for granted and everything God gives us is a gift. We also know that we are only given what God knows we can deal with, so we will have to tap into all our reserves of strength for the coming days and weeks — perhaps even years. Thank God, we have three beautiful children, two of them “bli ayn hora” healthy and well, along with countless other blessings in our life. This, too, is a source of nechama (consolation) to us.
We thank you again for all of your support and help during these past three weeks. May we all merit to share only simchas together in the future.
