When hearing Amichai Ressler, it's hard to believe the person speaking is a grieving father who lost his son during the horrific events of October 7th. His infectious cheer and constant efforts to spread joy would have one believe that he never experienced heartache in his life. But the truth is that it was exactly that tragedy that propelled him to his new calling.
Amichai Ressler, 45, lives in Kdumim in the historical Samaria region of the Holy Land. For decades, he worked as a tractor driver. On October 7th this past year, the holiday of Simchas Torah, his son, Dvir-Chaim, was murdered by the accursed monsters during the terror attack that took over 1,000 lives. Since the loss of his son, Amichai’s life changed. He began to focus on one thing - bringing joy to other Jews.
When remembering his son, Amichai sometimes sums his memories in one word: Simcha – joy. “The joy of life was evident on Dvir-Chaim's face from birth. He was always happy, radiating a special light that also shone on those around him. Growing up, as a student in yeshiva and in general, he was very sociable, and connected to each student in his class, each soldier in his platoon, and each individual in his social circles. He had a unique way of fulfilling the mitzvah of honoring his parents, avoiding anything that could cause us any distress,” Amichai recalls.
At six-thirty in the morning on Simchas Torah this past year, Dvir-Chaim was with his platoon mates at an IDF R&D base in the South of Israel when they heard sirens warning of missile fire towards the base. All the soldiers rushed quickly to the shelters and protected areas, besides Dvir. He went through all the rooms to make sure everyone on the base had woken up and entered the shelter. His friends begged him to protect himself, but he was not deterred from his mission: Ahavat Yisroel - love of a fellow Jew. Only after ensuring everyone was safe, did he join two friends in the shelter.
Moments after he entered the shelter, terrorists breached the base. Dvir had to hold the door of the shelter for many long minutes to prevent the attackers from entering. When the terrorists realized they wouldn’t succeed in opening the door, they placed an explosive charge to blast the door open. The explosion killed Dvir-Chaim, who sacrificed his own life to save his two friends.
Shortly afterwards, the news of the attack reached his father, Amichai, but he did not know what the fate of his son was. “When I realized my son was hurt, I tried to find him everywhere. I did everything in my power, but we just weren’t able to find any information. I even went by myself to the outposts near the border of the Gaza Strip to try to find him,” Amichai recalls.
On Tuesday, four days after the massacre, Amichai headed south again. It was on that trip that a close friend of his son told him, "I promise you that I won't rest until I find Dvir-Chaim."
“At that moment, I let go. I said to the Creator of the World, ‘That's it, Father, I stopped looking. It's in your hands now, and you will find him for me.’ The next morning, on Wednesday, I was informed that his body was at the Shura Army base, which was the base where victims of the attacks had been brought to be identified,” Amichai said. In those dark days, it seemed like the sea of grief was never-ending.
But almost immediately after the funeral, Amichai set out on a new mission: To gladden the hearts of fellow Jews. It might seem counter-intuitive for a father who just lost his son, but Amichai said that it was his son’s memory that prompted him to begin his new “career.”
“Until Dvir-Chaim ascended to the heavens, I never even thought of doing anything of the sort. Everyone who knows me knows I'm not the type to stand in front of a crowd and to lecture. But now, thanks to the powers I draw from Dvir-Chaim, I continue his legacy, fulfill his wish, by bringing joy to people's lives. It fulfills me. At my son’s funeral, I told him ‘I will reach every person who is down and ensure that they will become joyful.’ That's my way of honoring my son,” the heroic father says.
Amichai explains that his joy is more than just laughter, it is a deep joy, one that comes from belief in G-d. “Joy is a way of life. The way to achieve true joy is by instilling in one’s consciousness an absolute trust in the Creator of the world. That which we can change, is up to us, but that which we have no control over, is in the hands of the Almighty, and we must learn to lean on Him.”
“I don't wish anyone to go through what I went through. But it is precisely from the place that I stand that I ask everyone to be joyful. Dear Jews, I ask of you, I beg of you, rejoice! This is a time when, more than ever, we need positive energy. We need to strengthen our spiritual and emotional fortitude, and above all, we need to simply be happy. I am sure that this is what G-d wants from us now.”
Translated from Sichat Hashavua
