A baby girl was born on Friday to the widow of Rav Refoel Mordechai Fishoff Hy”d, the yungerman who was murdered in a terror attack in Chadera on Erev Yom Kippur.
The newborn is the seventh child in the family and will never have the chance to meet her father.
Rav Refoel Mordechai was just 35 years old when he was killed by a terrorist in a brutal attack in Chadera. He left behind six young orphans and a grieving wife.
Known for his exceptional prishus, piety, and unwavering dedication to limud haTorah, Rav Refoel Mordechai immersed himself in learning day and night. In his youth, he studied at the Derech Moshe Yeshiva in Bnei Brak. He continued his learning at Yeshivas Knesses Yitzchok in Chadera, where he remained a model of consistency and depth in learning.
During the brief shiva that took place before Yom Kippur, Rav Fishoff’s widow shared a deeply personal detail with Rav Yehoshua Ehrenberg, the rosh yeshiva. She revealed that throughout his life, her husband would often say that he wished to merit dying al kiddush Hashem.
Now, within the year of mourning, the family’s sorrow is tempered by the birth of this new child. As Chazal teach in the Yerushalmi Maseches Moed Katan, during the year of mourning, middas hadin hovers over the bereaved family. But if a son is born within that year, it is a sign that the family has been healed. Many poskim explain that this applies not only to a son, but also to a daughter, and indeed to any source of joy within the family. In the words of the Gemara, “Nisrapa kol hamishpacha.”
{Matzav.com Israel}