"Celebrate life, Noa.
Dance for yourself.
Dance for us.
Because for your dance we fought.
For the return of the smile stolen from you, we sent our children to battle.
For you to live happily, our beloved Arnon Zamora fought and died.
I too, a bereaved father of a son who fought to save you,
Rejoiced when my grandson, Jonathan's son, was born.
And celebrated birthdays with great laughter.
I danced at weddings, and just so in times of happiness.
And it never occurred to me for a moment that I was harming his memory, or diminishing the pain of his death in any way.
Because your heart - our heart - is wide, and in it are two chambers.
And there is room for complete joy, in one chamber,
And pain for those who fell for you and for those you await to return, in the second chamber.
The joy does not diminish the pain, and the pain does not diminish the intensity of the joy.
Don't listen to the voices of the perpetual 'naysayers'.
To the complainers.
To the tut-tutters.
To the champions of sadness.
To those who will never experience even a fraction of the torment you went through,
And yet allow themselves, with endless patronizing, to deny your right to be happy.
Ignore them.
The people of Israel saved you from death not so you would continue to die.
But so you would live.
So dance, beloved Noa,
Rejoice,
For yourself.
And also for us,
Because your smile illuminates our dark days.
And your dance makes our hearts dance with joy.
And your life comforts more than any comfort."
Written by Chagai Lober, a bereaved father, who lost his son Staff Sergeant Elisha Yehonatan Lober (24) on December 25, 2023, while serving with Battalion 8104 in the southern Gaza Strip.
