My mother, Michla Ita a”h, daughter of Rav Yechiel Meir zt”l (whose yahrzeit falls on 11 Nisan), endured many hardships. Yet, she knew how to bear those sufferings with love and acceptance.
Approximately a year before her passing, she fell and broke her leg, lo aleinu. As soon as I heard of her fall, I rushed to her side and quickly realized that she had suffered a severe injury. Yet when I asked her how she felt and where she was in pain, she replied: “Do you think Hashem strikes without purpose? Chas veshalom! This must certainly be something I deserve.
“I actually enjoy it because it means I will arrive in the World to Come purified and cleansed from sin. As is taught (Berachos 5a), ‘Suffering atones for a person’s sins.’”
She expressed these words not in a state of calm or comfort but while enduring severe and bitter pain, writhing from the intensity of it! She even refused to take painkillers, insisting: “If Hashem wishes to give me suffering, I do not wish to escape it! If I avoid it now, I will surely have to repay this debt another time.”
Her simple faith was the anthem of her life. Her entire existence was one continuous expression of solid and unwavering faith, which she instilled deeply in her children. One could elaborate at length on this, but this is not the place.
She merited that she was accompanied by a song of faith even in her passing. This began about two years before her death when she spent the Seder night at my home. We arranged a minyan for the evening prayers, and after the davening, everyone sang the song of emunah, Adon Olam, as is customary in many Jewish communities.
When my mother heard this melody, she derived immense joy from it. After the tefillah, she approached me and said, “I wish to be accompanied from this world with this song!”
The following day, after the Yom Tov prayers, she repeated her request, stating that her heartfelt wish was to be escorted from this world with the melody of Adon Olam.
Indeed, her wish was fulfilled. At her levayah, Adon Olam was sung, as per her request, and it inspired great spiritual arousal among those who attended, in her merit. May her soul be bound in the bond of eternal life.
