Finding Comfort in Unity   

“Yerushalayim is the place of simchah,” he began. “And it’s also the place where we find comfort in times of mourning, lo aleinu.

“But why?” he asked. “What is so special about the simchah of Yerushalayim?

“Simchah is the opposite of mourning,” he explained. “Mourning comes from separation, while simchah is the experience of connection. Yerushalayim is the place where Klal Yisrael unites. It’s where Dovid Hamelech succeeded in uniting the entirety of Klal Yisrael. It’s the place through which we remind a mourner: Although you have lost one individual, you still belong to the family of Am Yisrael.”

Those words so perfectly reflected the man who spoke them — a person whose very being was devoted to Klal Yisrael. A man whose life’s purpose was a call to public responsibility, to kiddush Hashem, to the constant pursuit of Jewish unity, and to tireless efforts to mend the rifts that divide our people.