Rav Meir Nachman Elhadad, the bereaved father of two sons who lost their lives in the Meron disaster, somehow finds the fortitude to urge his visitors during shiva to use this wake-up call to grow closer to Hashem.

In a video published by Channel 20 News, Rav Elhadad, the father of the kedoshim Yosef Dovid z’l, 18, and Moshe Mordechai, 12, tearfully spoke to his visitors at his home in the Beis Yisrael neighborhood of Jerusalem.

“Hakadosh Baruch Hu has knocked on our door. It wasn’t a gentle knock. He gave us a potch so we can wake up and say: ‘Abba, we’re returning to You. We understood the message.”

“Every one of us, me, my children, everyone who’s close to us, all of Am Yisrael – wake up. We shouldn’t chalilah return to our routine, we need to be mechazeik b’Torah, b’mitzvos, b’ahavas chaveirim, in giving to others, in caring about others.”

Below is a video of Rav Mendel Moskovitz, who said Shema Yisrael with Yosef Dovid before he died, paying a shiva call to Rav Elhadad.

“I was lying next to your Yosef Dovid,” Rav Moscovitz said. “I heard his Shema Yisrael and his ‘Abba, todah’ under the pile of people and those words are what gives me chizzuk from that moment until now.”

"שכבתי לצד יוסף דוד שלכם, שמעתי את את ה'שמע ישראל' שלו, את ה'אבא תודה' תחת ערימת האנשים וזה מה שמחזיק אותי מאותו רגע ועוד עכשיו".
הרב מנדל מוסקוביץ בניחום אבלים בבית הרב נחמן ואלישבע אלחדד שאיבדו שני בנים באסון הטראגי במירון pic.twitter.com/SbWztcfnnM

— Moyshi rainer ‏ 𝕏 (@moyshi_rainer) May 3, 2021

Reb Elhadad’s wife displays the same amount of emunah as her husband. Miriam Peretz, who lost two sons in the IDF and is well-known for her work with bereaved families, was amazed when she came to be menachem avel.

“This mother is now sitting shiva on her two sons and what is she talking about? ‘Let’s unite. Let’s respect each other more,'” Peretz said.

Former Jerusalem mayor and Likud MK Nir Barkat also came to be menachem avel and the family showed him the letter he had sent them when their son, z’l, was born, when he was serving as mayor.

חה"כ ניר ברקת הגיע לנחם את בני משפחת אלחדד על האסון הכבד שפקד אותם במות שני ילדיהם באסון הנורא, במהלך הניחומים אב המשפחה הראה לו את מכתב ברכת המזל טוב ששלח למשפחה על לידת בנם שנהרג בהיותו ראש עיריית ירושלים, עצוב. pic.twitter.com/z6N8A7IlI6

— אריאל אלחרר (@ariel_elharar_) May 4, 2021

הגיעו לנחם את משפחת אלחדד ששכלה שניים מבניה באסון ונדהמו מתעצומות הנפש@KastelMoti @ErelSegal @michael_dvorin #הסיפור_המרכזי
הכתבה המלאה>>https://t.co/VHamUsMfCR pic.twitter.com/XYASGhwqaL

— עכשיו 14 (@Now14Israel) May 3, 2021

[MERON VICTIMS: 24 Bochurim And Boys, 4 Mir Talmidim, At Least 6 US Citizens, 2 Canadians]

[HEARTBREAKING: List Of Niftarim R”L Killed In Meron Crush Released]

[OUTRAGE GROWING: Israel – Where Is Your Compassion To Parents Of Students Traumatized By Meron Disaster?]

[How Exactly Did The Terrible Disaster At Meron Occur?]

[Father’s Heartrending Hesped For His Son: “You’re Now In Rebbe Shimon’s Yeshiva”]

[WATCH: 10-Yr.-Old Meron Survivor: “I Cried Out Shema Yisrael”]

[“People Were Crushed To Death Before My Eyes” – Survivors Of The Harrowing Scenes Talk]

[Chareidi Reporter Warned Of This Very Tragedy In 2018!]

[State Comptroller Says He’s Launching Probe Of Meron Disaster]

[The Chilling Letter A Meron Victim Left Before His Death]

[Last Meron Victim Is Buried After His Parents Arrive From Argentina]

[HEARTBREAKING IMAGE: Child Of Meron Victim Makes Toy Representing His Father Z”L]

[11-Year-Old Seriously Injured At Meron Is Released From The Hospital]

[CHILLING: Look What Was Found Inside Siddur Of Victim Of Meron Tragedy]

[Journalist Published Eye-Witness Reports Which May Explain How The Trampling in Meron Began]

[Meron Victims: Elhadad Brothers, 12 & 18, Buried Next To Rashbi]

[One Of The Meron Victims Was MK Eichler’s Brother-In-Law]

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)