What words can express the appauling murder of a purest-of-pure tiny baby who was only three months old?
The lovely Braun family prayed and yearned for over a decade before they were finally blessed with a child - their beautiful little daughter, Chaya Zissel (image, above). Yesterday, they took little Chaya Zissel to the Western Wall remnant of our Holy Temple to thank Hashem for the priceless gift He presented them. As they were coming back into West Jerusalem, Chaya Zissel became a tiny martyr, a public sacrifice to atone for the Jewish People.
The terrorist attack occurred right up the street less than a mile from the Breslev Israel offices and the Chut Shel Chesed Yeshiva in Jerusalem yesterday afternoon. We heard the sirens, saw the ambulances and shuddered, knowing that something terrible happened. A 21-year old Hamas-associated beast from the Silwan neighborhood of East Jerusalem ran his automobile into a crowd of people that just got off the Jerusalem urban light rail at the Ammunition Hill station. He hit a baby carriage, which sent little Chaya Zissel Braun of saintly and martyred memory hurling more than 30 feet in the air. Chaya Zissel landed lifeless on the pavement of our holy city of Jerusalem, in the same exact spot where Israeli paratroopers fought a fierce hand-to-hand battle against the Jordanian Legion to free Jerusalem from foreign hands and unite it in 1967.
Chaya Zissel joins the ranks of other baby martyrs, all of blessed and saintly memory - Shalhevet Pass, Yehuda Shoham, Hadas Fogel, Shaked Avraham, Yonatan Palmer, Shmuel Zargari and a long list of Jewish babies whose sole "sin" was being a Jewish baby living in the Land of Israel.
The Rambam teaches us how we must react, beyond our national grief and tears. He explains in Chapter One of Hilchot Taanit (the Laws of Fasting) that if we say this is "happenstance" and continue on with our evil ways, then more troubles can be expected. Therefore, everyone must regard this as a personal tragedy and do what he or she can to better themselves and return to Hashem.
I strongly urge that each of us take upon ourselves a solemn resolution to improve, especially in the area of man and fellow man. Do your best to respect every person. Try to avoid anger at all costs. Steer clear of arguments. Don't raise your voice. Strive to create love and unity among our people. Start at home by improving marital peace. Before you raise your voice at your children, stop and think what a special gift they are from Hashem...
May Hashem console Chaya Zissel's parents who must deal with this devastating loss that no words can ever describe. Please Hashem, send a spirit of teshuva among our people and may this be the end of martyrdom. Such tiny martyrs and such huge holiness. Hashem yinkom dama...
