By now, I imagine many of you have heard of the tragic and inspiring story of Charlotte Herzberg. On June 2, Yudi Herzberg was picking his son up from school when he received a call from his wife. She was frantic, she could hardly speak, something about their daughter being hit by a car. Yudi raced home and found his eight-year-old daughter, Charlotte, on the street surrounded by members of Hatzalah.
He immediately noticed his dear friend and chavrusa, who was also a member of Hatzalah, on the scene. Knowing that his friend was there meant that his daughter would receive the best possible care and that gave him a small sense of comfort. Only then, Yudi noticed something was wrong. His friend was looking away from him and at his car; avoiding eye contact. And then it clicked. The car on the street right next to Charlotte’s motionless body belonged to his best friend.
Hatzalah whisked his daughter away and sped to the nearest emergency room. They worked on her for over 40 minutes, but tragically, Charlotte would not make it. What is not as well-known is what Yudi shared at the funeral. Yudi, in a soft, broken voice, spoke about his precious daughter, her smile, her energy. He thanked the many people who tried to help her. And then he acknowledged the elephant in the room. “I’ve been wondering to myself,” he said, “how this could have happened. Not just the tragic death of my daughter. But how could it be that my closest friend, my chavrusa, the person I speak to whenever I need advice, could have caused this?”
“The only answer I could think of,” he continued with a crack in his voice, “is this. There was a conversation up in heaven. G-d was boasting about how peaceful our community is, how much shalom there is between neighbors, how different types of Jews could all get along. And the Satan came along and said, ‘Big deal. The only reason there is shalom is because they’ve never been tested.’ And Hashem gave the Satan permission to test us. This is the only plausible reason I could come up with.”
And then Yudi’s voice rose. “Satan,” Yudi said, “you underestimated us! We will not fall for your trap! We will not point fingers! We will not spread stories! We will not allow this terrible incident to rip us apart! We will double down in how loving we are with one another! I bear no grudge against my friend; he is still my best friend! And I ask you,” he concluded, “to join me in bringing more shalom to the world.”
I can’t help but wonder if Yudi is actually touching on a much broader phenomenon. Perhaps after October 7th, G-d was proud of how unified the Jewish People were, how we all came together as one family, across religious divides, across continents. I can’t help but wonder if the Satan was given permission to test us, in Israel and all over the world, to see if we could really hold it together. Can there be another explanation for the great divisiveness we have seen in the streets, highways, and courtrooms of Israel these past months? Is this not the act of the Satan trying to prove to G-d that the brotherhood on full display right after October 7th was a blip?
The divide in Israel is real, and it is complex. I do not have the audacity to weigh in on the particulars, but I am reminded of the chilling words of Rav Naftali Tzvi Yehuda Berlin who described the lead-up to the Churban. He questions the seeming contradiction between our Sages describing that generation as righteous and immersed in Torah study with statements that describe them as full of hate for one another, even leading to bloodshed. The Netziv suggests that they were indeed fully observant and even righteous. However, “they suspected anyone who was not religious in accordance with their viewpoint to be a heretic.”
Do we not grapple with the same challenge? Are we not a righteous generation, learning more Torah, performing more chesed, living according to halacha like never before? And yet, we so quickly condemn those who do not share our religious viewpoint as being entirely wrong and worthy of hate.
As the Yerushalmi (Yoma, 1:1) states, “Any generation in which the Beis Hamikdash is not rebuilt, is as if they destroyed it.” We are not suffering the impact of our forefathers’ sins, I fear we are perpetuating them. As Mark Twain is quoted to have said, “History does not necessarily repeat itself; but it does rhyme.”
In the wake of the death of their child, the Herzberg family launched a campaign called Shalom for Charlotte. They are asking people to commit to one act of shalom. Stop waiting for your friend to apologize and take the first step yourself. Call the sibling you haven’t spoken to in years. Take some time to better understand a fellow Jew who has an opinion you believe to be wrong. Specifically at this time of Bein Hametzarim, when we remember that the Beis Hamikdash was destroyed due to sinas chinam, baseless hatred of our fellow Jews, this is the time to commit ourselves to making peace. To loving each other, despite our differences, disagreements, and intractable, unanswerable challenges. Yes, we must diminish our joy during the month of Av, but perhaps we can still be marbim b’shalom.
I invite you to join me in participating in this campaign, a tribute to a precious girl, that has the capability of bringing an end to all of our suffering. Click here to take the pledge.
Our generation has so much going for it. We are so close to the end. Let’s prove the Satan wrong by doing our part and becoming the generation that finally brings the geulah.
Rabbi Dr. Josh Joseph
Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer