The dedicated gannenet Mrs. Hodaya Cohen a”h, wife of the accomplished avreich Rabbi Eliaz Cohen ybl”ch, a respected talmid chacham in Kiryat Herzog, Bnei Brak who is one of the close talmidim of HaGaon Rabbi Nissim Ben Senyor shlit”a
A pall of mourning hung over the Kiryat Herzog neighborhood in Bnei Brak: a terrible tragedy struck the Cohen family with the passing of the respected tzaddekes Mrs. Hodaya Cohen a”h, at the age of only 40, in Bnei Brak’s Ma’ayanei HaYeshua Hospital. Her husband the avreich and six shattered young children are left behind, the tragedy following on the heels of another family tragedy which they are still mourning- the sudden passing of their brother Aharon z”l; he was only three years old, and he passed away on his birthday last year.
Mrs. Cohen a”h fell ill immediately following the birth of her youngest daughter about two-and-a-half years ago. The disease spread throughout her body and she needed extended treatment, but relatives share that she didn’t give up her emunah for one moment. “She always accepted everything with love,” describes one of her friends.
Her husband, Rabbi Eliaz Cohen shlit”a, is one of the respected avreichim in the beis medrash of HaGaon Rabbi Nissim Ben Senyor shlit”a. For years he’s been completely involved in his learning while his wife encouraged and supported him, managing all household affairs while urging him to stay within the dalet amos of halacha and not to leave the beis medrash for mundane matters.
Throughout the years she ran a babysitting service in her home, devotedly caring for many children while simultaneously supporting her household financially. When the disease was discovered, she was compelled to close her service and direct her energies to the fight for her life.
The family previously experienced an indescribably heartrending tragedy last year in Tammuz when their three-year-old son Aharon was niftar suddenly while the family was taking a mini-vacation on Moshav Chofetz Chaim, courtesy of Ezer MiTzion, to which they’d been invited because of the mother’s disease.
That same night the family had celebrated his third birthday, and in the morning they found him lifeless in his bed. The tragedy left deep scars on the family’s collective psyche, and now they were struck with the fresh, indescribable pain of losing their mother.
And the tragedy doesn’t even stop there. The grandfather and the grandmother of the children both passed away within only three weeks, leaving the family to cope with the additional loss of one after the other.
Six orphans are left behind, all of them young: the oldest is twelve, and the youngest is only two-and-a-half. The second daughter just started first grade. The small home, filled with children and until now with warmth, love, and emunah, is suddenly left motherless.
Now the father, the avreich, faces an incredibly huge task- raising his young children alone, while the reality of financial lack adds tremendously to the family’s difficulties; the entire community is enjoined to help this family in such great distress.
The levayah was held with hundreds of Bnei Brak residents in attendance, friends of the family and of the deceased a”h, who tearfully accompanied the respected mother on her last journey. One of the hespedim summarized: “She was a courageous aishes chayil who sanctified HaShem’s Name in everything she did.”
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
