Remembering Shifra Yehudit A”H

Posted by JewishMom on Oct 21, 2020 in Current Events, Inspiration, Israel, My life | 3 comments

I moved to a new neighborhood 5 years ago, and whenever I have to visit my old neighborhood, as I did this morning, something happens repeatedly that repeatedly scares me. I see people who’ve, over the last 5 years, grown old. Black hair replaced with gray. Smooth skin replaced with wrinkles. For me, since I haven’t seen them, it feels like these people grew old overnight. But of course, it hasn’t been overnight, it’s been 5 years. I’ve grown older and so have they. But still, seeing these “suddenly” old people fills me with a sense of unease bordering on dread. Like life is slipping through my fingers as quickly as sands through the hourglass.
Then, just right now, I opened the news and found out that a terrible tragedy had taken place. My daughter’s friend and high school classmate, 22-year-old Shifra Yehudit Feierstein, whom I remember as always smiling, so full of life, was found dead in the Jerusalem Forest a few hours ago. I hadn’t seen her since she was an idealistic national-service volunteer at Zichron Menachem, almost 5 years ago. It turns out these past few years hadn’t been easy ones for Shifra Yehudit. If only, if only…she could have grown old too.