"Sarah A"H asked me this week what happens in Heaven"

Rabbi Shmuel Spivak, father of the girl Sarah A"H, who drowned to death in the city of Bnei Brak in the mikveh in the afternoon of Yom Kippur, in a tearful interview to Behadrey Haredim, the disaster, the terrible fate and the future.

• Tell us a little about Sarah.

"Sarahle was sweet and very cute, I loved her dearly and she loved me dearly too, she would always kiss me, she would not let me leave the house without giving me a kiss, a very special girl, gorgeous, very beautiful and good middos, she was not named after Sarah Imeinu in vain."

• Describe for us the last time you saw her.

"Before I went to shull she was playing with her little brother, before I went I called her, she gave me a kiss, and went to shull."



• How did you find out about the tragic incident?

"I davened at the Heichal Shlomo shull, when they finished Mussaf - at around 13:00 pm - I heard whispers Spivak, Spivak, I asked what happened, I was told that something happened, and "you'd better go home". I went home and the house was empty. I asked the neighbors, they told me, 'Didn't you hear? Sarahle, something happened to her in the mikveh. I went immediately, and I saw her when she was in an ambulance and they were trying to revive her. I joined the ride to the hospital. In fact she has probably died already, after having been too long in the water."

• After the incident, you returned to shull?

"No. I asked an Arab from the police to take me home, I wanted to prepare the family. It was very, very hard for me, I was very broken, but I received it with faith and love, I knew that someone should inform the family, and strengthen them, which is me. Of course I stayed home and completed the tefillos, I davened ma'ariv at plag mincha,"

• How does one manage to continue asking for a good year after the law has been struck with full force?

"This is extremely powerful, but one has to know that a good year for us - sometimes it's Hashem's good year, all the painful indications show that it was meant to happen. She was wearing especially white, for the first time she wanted to wear Crocs shoes even though she was quite little. And perhaps precisely because of the Crocs she slipped into the cistern at the mikveh. A week before she had asked me what was going on in heaven. All the tragic signs show that this was Providence, it is very painful, and I'm still broken, and Hashem will help and will give us more strength. But as one makes a blessing on the good – one should make a blessing on the bad."

More:
• In midst of 'mi yichye umi yamus' - beeper began to beep
• Tragedy in Bnei Brak: 4 year old drowned in mikveh

"Tzadikim pass away on Yom Kippur, like the Rebbe of Lelov"

• Do you know this mikveh?

"Yes, I tovel there."

• Was the mikveh supposed to be open on Yom Kippur? Do you think that the door had to be locked?

"Of course it's obvious that the door should be closed. Among the many versions, I heard the door had been broken. I'm not looking to blame, I do not want to ruin families and to find the guilty. I just do not want it to happen in the future."

• Do you have any message for parents or those responsible in the municipality?

"Of course, after tragic events one learn from their mistakes, and I hope that they will learn the lessons and make all efforts to install safety measures, and it will be fine, as it is written, "veasisa ma'ake legagecha" (you shall make a rail to your rooftop)."

• Are you angry?

"No, I'm not angry, really not."

• What goes through your mind when you're alone?

"I miss Sarahle, miss her very much. Sometimes I even imagine her fall, it's something that's really hard for me, but I try to imagine and think it's good for her in heaven, she suffered a bit, which is what she was supposed to amend in this world."

• How do you explain the timing – especially on Yom Kippur?

"They say Tzadikim are niftar on Yom Kippur, as the Rebbe of Lelov. She wanted to go in white, like the Kohen Gadol. She was here in the yard and played, and went to the mikveh."

• I understand that there was a delay during the funeral, what happened?

"There was a problem with the police about the body, they were debating whether to do an autopsy, and thank G-d they decided not to."

• How can one get stronger after this event? How is the family taking it?

"Faith one does not buy at the grocery store. It's not easy, it's hard. I firmly believe, one needs to grow even stronger and strengthen the family, it is not easy at all. One needs to know that this world is temporary, like Succos when one leaves to a temporary dwelling and feels it. There are decrees and we can not understand them. I said at the funeral, that no one will ever know such nisyonos and others."

'בחדרי' גם ברשתות החברתיות - הצטרפו!