Chanukah Day #1 | An Orphan's Prayer

His [music] father Kananar was a beloved Israeli barber in Ashkalon and he was murdered in cold blood at the Nova music festival on that morning of October 7th, 2023. Sim Torah 5784 as he was physically hovering over and using his body to protect two young girls. Kanan was 38. He was survived by his wife Meri and their three beautiful children, Avishak, 13, Noam, 11, [music] and Eton 5 and a half. Friends described him as the most expensive, [music] gigantic heart you would encounter. A person who loved people, loved his family to pieces, and was in love with love and kindness and life. More than two years passed since that dark day. A few months ago, as Noam was approaching his 13th birthday, his mom began to talk to him about his bar mitzvah celebration. But Noam told his dismayed mother that he was [music] not interested in having any bar mitzvah. The sadness and devastation of losing his beloved father was just too much to bear. Doing this going into this milestone without his father just seemed so overwhelming. His mom was dumbfounded. She says, "Every boy has a mamitzvah at the age of 13. You go to the synagogue, you get called [music] up to the Torah, you put on your fillin. This is something Jewish boys have been doing for thousands of years." She says to Noah, "Not me, mommy. No bar mitzvah for [music] me." A confused and sad mother says, "So, what would you like to do instead?" I want to have a fun, exciting vacation in the United States of America. I want a vacation. I want a tour in America. I don't want a mitzvah. Mom says, "I would love [music] to, but you know there's no way we can afford such a trip to the United States. We are not a wealthy family. I am so so sorry." Well, Noam says, "That is what I want. You ask me what I want. That is what I want. I do not want a mitzvah." His mother, a special heartfelt [music] I says to him, you know, my dearest son, you have two [music] fathers in heaven. Your biological father is in heaven and you have your creator, Hashem, God. Why [music] don't you talk to them and tell them what you want because this is above [music] my pray great. This is not anything I can arrange in the furthest stretch of my imagination. Go talk to your two fathers in heaven. Noam shared the story with me and he told me, I took my mother's words to heart. I went to the synagogue. [music] I spoke to God and I spoke to my father. I asked my dad [music] to intercede on my behalf and I asked Hashem, "Please arrange for me a tour to America." Life moves on. A few weeks later, Miri Amar shares with me the story. I receive a message on my phone. There's an organization called Yeshua. It's headed by a kidic Israeli couple, my dear friends Mendy and Brahenik. founded to support berieved families in Israel after the October 7th massacre and the Gaza war. They're arranging a 10day vacation in America for bereieved families with all expenses covered. Mirie the widow looks at the [music] dates. It's exactly the same week as Noam's bar mitzvah. I thought I was hallucinating, she tells me. I thought I went crazy. I was dreaming. I phoned them and they said, of course, come join us. Bring your children. Your families are going to have a blast. When I told men Kennek about the whole story, my son doesn't want to mitzvah once a tour. This is amazing. We are going to arrange your son's bitz, the most beautiful hotel in the United States. Hundreds of Jews will celebrate with him during this incredible dream American vacation. We will cover [music] all the expenses. Meni invited me to. And so just a few weeks ago, Shabbat Pares Kaiser, November 15th, 2025, I joined so many Jews at the Oceanfront Berkeley Hotel in New Jersey as no one was [music] called up to the Torah and then placed on someone's shoulders dancing with hundreds of people, orphans, widows, berieved parents, benefactors, and donors who have all come together for the [music] special Shabas. We danced and we sang. We threw bags of candies at him. celebrating this young boy's bar mitzvah. I was invited to say a few words and I said, "No, I'm my dearest." Everyone in this room thought they were coming to America just for a fun gateway. Almost 200 tickets were sponsored for these families to come from Israel, Orlando, have a great time. Manukhu was sponsoring a vacation. Why not? The truth is unbeknownst to all of us, this entire [music] trip was arranged by your prayers. As you prayed to Hashem and you asked your father's holy soul to pray for you, God brought all the pieces together for you to enjoy this most magnificent celebration with so many of us. Thank you, Noah, for bringing us all together to celebrate [music] this amazing day. I saw another man sitting in the crowd. His name is Aki Eli Yahu. He was sitting there, Noah. He was chaperoning him and [music] helping him and preparing him for the mamitzvah. And he said to me, I had a son, Ariel. He was a [music] tank gunner. The morning of October 7th, he took his tank to Bea. He killed dozens of terrorists, saved countless lives until he was murdered at the age [music] of 20. A few years ago, he also celebrated his bar mitzvah shabas [music] shabas kayasara the connection of souls. After the celebration shabas Saturday night as he was eating pizza, noam said to me, I took my mother's [music] word seriously. She said to me, go pray. You have two fathers in heaven. Talk to them. That's what I did. This, my friends, is the power of a pure heart [music] melting in prayer. Happy Hanukkah. >> [music]