Fire in Havat Gilad

Bereaved family's home destroyed in Havat Gilad wildfire

This evening, I read an article on Israel National News (INN) about the devastating wildfire that destroyed homes in Havat Gilad, including the home of Yael Shevach, the widow of Rabbi Raziel Shevach, who was murdered in a terrorist attack in 2018.

Some time ago, Aish.com published a moving article about Yael titled "Choosing Life Is My Revenge." After reading the news about the fire, I searched Rabbi Raziel Shevach's name on Google and came across a moving article on the Chabad website titled "The Angel Raziel – The Sad and Inspiring Story of Rabbi Raziel Shevach, the Righteous Mohel Murdered by Terrorists."

In the article, a father recounts his desperate search for a mohel who would be willing to travel to his small community to perform his son's brit milah on the second day of Rosh Hashanah. After many unsuccessful phone calls, he finally reached Rabbi Raziel Shevach.

Rabbi Raziel's response reflected the values by which he and his wife lived:

"First of all, mazal tov! Second, my wife and I have a rule: we never say no to the mitzvah of performing a brit milah."

Those simple words capture Rabbi Raziel's extraordinary dedication to helping others and his unwavering commitment to every opportunity to perform a mitzvah.

To read the full article (in Hebrew), click here.