A Mikveh in Memory of her Daughter by Rabbanit Yemima Mizrachi
Yesterday I was in Havat Gilad in the Shomron, a place populated by the most beautiful women in the world. They have within them the beauty of the hills all around, the beauty of the land of Israel.
I was there for the opening of Havat Gilad’s beautiful new mikveh. It was built with the help of many wonderful donations.
One of the most amazing donation stories was of a mother whose daughter, 20 years old, tragically died in a car accident around 2 years ago. Soon afterwards this mother’s husband got very sick with COVID and was intubated in a coma for over 10 months.
Before he got so sick, the husband had set aside money to donate in the name of his daughter, in remembrance of her.
When this mother heard about the new Mikveh being built in Havat Gilad, she wanted to make a donation with the money her husband had set aside.
This would be her daughter’s mikveh, what a beautiful way to memorialize her daughter with such a pure soul!
The mother couldn’t consult with her husband who was still in a coma. So she consulted with a Rabbi instead, and decided to donate the money. But soon after making the donation she was contacted by the people in charge of building the Mikveh. They told her that there was a problem. Someone else wanted to make a much bigger donation than hers, which would enable them to finish the entire mikveh, but in return, this other donor was requesting to name the Mikveh after his mother.
They asked the mother for her opinion. Her permission. This bereaved mother really wanted the mikveh to be in memory of her daughter, but she decided that having a finished Mikveh was the most important thing, and she agreed.
A day after her donation, after 10 long months, her husband suddenly woke up. He was finally well enough to be disconnected from life support.
And not long after, when all the biggest donors to the Mikveh gathered for the opening and the Mikveh’s name was unveiled, this bereaved mother was shocked to discover that the name of the biggest donor’s mother had been Chana, just like her daughter A”H.
Oh my! How awesome, B’H!