Chief Rabbi of Israel sends heartfelt condolences to Yarden Bibas

The Chief Rabbi of Israel and President of the Chief Rabbinate Council, Rabbi Kalman Bar, sent a letter of condolence today to Yarden Bibas, here is what he wrote.

To dear Yarden and all the family, with all the House of Israel in the land and in the diaspora, my heart is broken by the tidings of calamity that have befallen you. Know that the people of Israel, in all their diversity, have accompanied you through all the dark days you have endured. Few words can express the revulsion felt towards the despicable actions of the murderers who showed no mercy even to a baby and a toddler. In their eyes, human life has no value, and their perception of the meaning of life and death is not human at all. What kind of human being can harm the helpless, innocent children who have harmed no one and have not yet begun their lives?

Dear Yarden, you endured terrible days in captivity, fear and terror engulfing you. Our sages enumerate the most difficult situations a human being can face. At the end of their discussion, they say, "Captivity – the hardest of them all." Why? Because in captivity, all your existence and being depend on your captors, a suffering beyond description, every moment feeling like an eternity. Moreover, it involves captors for whom human life has no meaning at all.

When you were fortunate to emerge from darkness into light and returned from the shadows, and with the help of Heaven, your bonds were severed and you were freed from captivity, you were informed of the murder of your loved ones. You have reached a reality from which I do not know where to draw the strength to cope. I do not know what words of comfort can be said. The only thing I can do is to ask to add my tears to your cup of sorrow.

You must place before your eyes the spirit of your wife, Shiri, may her memory be a blessing, whom everyone who knew her praised and described as an extraordinary personality, a model and example of a mother in Israel. It is enough to look at her difficult pictures during the kidnapping to see who she is. I am convinced that her desire is for you to look to the future and, like the phoenix, gather the strength to return to life.

The enemy struck your body and severed a large part of your life, but they cannot destroy your spirit without rising. The continuation of your life will be a magnificent memorial to Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir.