As we began to think about how to keep Ayelet’s inspiration with us a few many have come to us with ideas. One idea, that came from multiple places, has been recently put into motion by the dynamic Jewish community of Montreal.

It is the idea of commissioning the writing of a torah scroll, a Sefer Torah, in her memory. A Torah for Ayelet. 

(The Ayelet Sefer Torah Project.)

The project, being spearheaded by the Beth Israel Beth Aaron congregation of Cote St Luc in Canada, Ayelet’s grandfather, Rabbi Poupko’s synagogue, is just getting underway.

The Torah scribing, which takes time to go letter by letter, is a way for each and every one of us who were inspired by Ayelet’s fight to add their imprint to this special Torah. The way she left an imprint on our lives.

Gaby Silver, another touched stranger, also proposed this idea himself, as he described beautifully:

Thousands of people found themselves transfixed by Ayelet’s battle, and the astonishing bravery of her family through the ordeal. Ayelet managed to unite people, complete strangers, from all over the globe. Countless posts on Ayelet’s blog begin with “I’ve never met you, but…”. There is clearly something very special about Ayelet’s Neshama that touched people deeply in ways that they themselves probably do not fully comprehend. I count myself amongst them. While nothing can come remotely close to the agony that her parents and loved ones feel, these people shared every triumph and setback, and now mourn deeply for your family’s tragic loss. However, being total strangers, there is no real outlet for this emotion.

Ayelet’s Torah would provide a tangible, holy avenue for the expression of that emotion; one that would serve as a permanent remembrance for a beautiful, brave little girl, and give an even greater aliyah to her Neshama. Simply put, it would be “Ayelet Nation’s” gift to you, and to her.

I loved this idea from the moment I heard it, but for me, Ayelet was not much of a religious Torah by the book sorta gal.

She actually gave us a GetOutOfJailFree pass to basically skip out on every major Jewish moment for the past 2 years.  This Passover was the first I actually recall thinking about the actual holiday, and yet my mind was transfixed on the passovers i semi-paid attention to, with Ayelet there.

The smaller moments.

So I was sort of apprehensive about this at first, but the more that I think about it the more Ayelet’s story embodies the Torah.

The smaller letters of the Torah make up the larger story. Without just our one letter, the torah isn’t complete. Each letter is a part of the meaning, in fact many explanations of the Torah are based on a single letter. The importance of a single letter, a single soul, a single girl in our lives.

I recall a beautiful story i heard from an NCSY shabbaton that hit the Ayelet/Torah connection home. One of the post concentration camp Jews, post holocaust, coming home to realize it is time to celebrate the holiday of Simchas Torah, the holiday we complete the Torah and celebrate with dancing with the Torah scrolls. But with the community uprooted and destroyed, the shul and the entire area had absolutely no Torah scrolls to dance with. 

With the already broken community shaking their heads, the Rabbi of the town said, “we do have torahs to dance with.”

The community all looked up hoping he had found one.

The rabbi pointed to the children. And he picked up a child, Lion king style.

This is our torah. This is our future. 

And so the community celebrated that Simchas Torah, with singing and dancing with their living torahs, their precious kinderlach. And they picked up their kids, put them on their shoulders and passed them around, dancing, holding them as tight as they would the holy Torahs found in the synagogue.

The living Torahs. The promise of a future for a people so broken.

Embracing the eternal nature of the Torah. That it  is our most prized possession ONLY if there are those to keep it going, to keep the fire, the aish hatorah, burnin’ to keep it alive.

Or as my sagely brother in law Avi Poupko described it:

One way to think about it. Is that Torah is forever. It is the most eternal thing that we have. It will be used and studied for decades but even more so it is the link in the unbroken chain. What better way to perpetuate Ayelets memory and her message. Just as Torah is forever so too is her memory forever. She is bound up with the Eytz Hachaim that is Torah. 

So with that, I offer up the opportunity to donate a letter, a chapter, a book, to the Torah Being written for Ayelet’s memory. If and only if you have the funds, u can donate here: http://www.shul.org/torahforayelet/

The Biba Synagogue has a great idea for it’s use:

The Sefer Torah, which will be portable, will be housed at the Beth Israel Beth Aaron Congregation and it will be designated for use at Shiva houses, simchas and community Shabbatonim. Just as Ayelet did in her short life span, it is our hope that the Sefer Torah that bears her name will bring inspiration and comfort to the community and to Klal Yisrael.

Hoping the dedication will be one filled of children, dancing and living in Ayelet’s memory.

For those who were following the blog, back in Oct 2011, there was a freak fire in our NY 103rd St. apartment while we were all in Cincinnati (you can read about here) that left our apartment and everything in it smoked, sooted and mostly unusable. (The cause was something with the microwave.)

Because we thought Ayelet was coming home at the time, we made sure to gut the entire place, remove walls floors etc, to prevent any mold that could cause infection to her - so we basically rebuilt the whole place.

It was just completed this week.

Last night we moved in to the fully renovated apartment, with some apprehension, some excitement and a ton of Ayelet memories on our shoulders. Looking at the empty bedroom alone is reminder enough, but in a certain sense this is a reset to a new apartment and a somewhat new albeit altered life.

We want to publicly thank the Chabad of the West Side who as soon as they heard at shiva that we were back in NYC and did not have a place to live until our apartment was fixed, offered up an apartment to us to give us some place to go in the interim. That interim lasted 3 months. Thank you Chabad West Side for all.

We lived there temporarily but it felt like home. Our neighbors, the welcoming Alevskys, another Chabad family welcomed us with open arms and hearts and we were even able to hold the Shloshim service in that apartment and give us a time of transition from what was to what is.

We will never forget that place, or more specifically, we will never forget the mahogany, bay windows, and unheard of high ceilings.

As for our new pad, here are some pics of the before/after the fire to give you a sense of the unbelievable work of our contractor Joe in the new Chez Galena:

It’s hard to be back, and honestly the first two nights we didn’t sleep much, but Ayelet’s room we still call Ayelet’s room, and the empty room in our apartment, empty room in our hearts, empty room in our lives, will be always be a memory filled void.

Now it’s just time we try and reset our apartment, reset our lives, and fill them with as much life as we can.

Thank you Chabad of the West Side for hosting us for 3 months, Rav Ossey/Kugel/Fried, Shneur, Joe the contractor, Elysha/Drew for housing all our stuff, Rafi for putting our bed together. And all those who have helped us pick up the pieces.

Now, let’s bring on the guests.

to watch the video click here

I feel truly honored and humbled to be here today.

I feel like I represent the tens of thousands of people whose lives were touched and changed by Ayelet.

Modern technology is an amazing thing in the way it has made the world smaller, and Facebook in particular has brought people together in new ways. I don’t remember exactly how I first heard of Ayelet and her incredible family. Multiple friends on Facebook had links to her blog and once I opened it, like so many others from around the world, I felt instantly connected to this beautiful little girl. I read her parents’ words daily and prayed and hoped along with the rest of Ayelet Nation….a unique community of people from all walks of life brought together by a bond to a family that most of us had never met.

Through Seth and Hindy’s words, pictures and videos we all came to know and love Ayelet. Their strength, humor and love touched us all. Ayelet’s beauty and sweet disposition was evident by her smile. Her love of her parents obvious in every photo.

We are all absolutely devastated that Ayelet is no longer with us, but her impact on this world grows each day and will never ever be forgotten. She is one of the few people who literally changed the world for the better. People were moved to organize and donate to bone marrow drives in her memory. Others were simply moved to better themselves as people.

The idea for Ayelet’s playroom came to me the day after we read the tragic news of her passing. My husband Jeff and I stayed up late the night before reading through the blog. He texted me from work “I can’t stop thinking of Ayelet”. I couldn’t either. I had read in the blog that Seth and Hindy and their families had stayed at the Ronald McDonald House in Cincinatti so I knew it was an organization close to their hearts.

Jeff and I actually stayed here when our son was in the NICU at Yale so we are also familiar with this amazing place. I, like so many, just felt like we had to do something. I connected with Cathy, the House Manager, who brilliantly suggested adopting the playroom. We thought that would be a fitting tribute to Ayelet and so did our many family and friends who eagerly contributed. I would like to thank the many people who donated to Ayelet’s playroom, and to Cathy and the rest of the Ronald McDonald house for making it a reality.

Hindy and Seth, words will always be insufficient. But I do want you to know that we, all of your tens of thousands of new friends, continue to think about you and your beautiful daughter daily. Thank you for being so open and honest with all of us. Thank you for sharing your beautiful daughter with all of us. I hope that Ayelet’s playroom will put a smile on the faces of the children who come to play here. Thank you all so much for being here.

Josiah is our nanny Margaret’s handsome 8 year old son who wrote and read this beautifully touching poem at the shloshim last night. Ayelet’s first crush.

Twinkle, twinkle little star

Ayelet I know where you are

Up above the sky so high

In a heavenly mansion dressed in white

Looking down with that pretty smile

That brightens up the darkest sky

I miss you Ayelet and love you

I would like to thank you all for everything

You did for me while I stayed in Cincinnati

Thank you for playing with me and making me laugh

I had lots of fun

I miss Ayelet’s smile and wonderful spirit

The way she enjoyed my singing

And dancing

She was a gem

I was looking forward to walking her to school

And being a big brother to her

Miss you Ayelet!

—- Josiah

(One of our favorite videos of Ayelet, where Josiah would crown Ayelet with a yarmulke and say “Happy Jewish Day!”)