Shalom For Charlotte

By: Sivan Rahav Meir

“Have people in Israel heard about Charlotte?” one of my readers in New York asked me this past week. She urged me to write about one of the most talked-about events to have shaken the local Jewish community in recent days.

Charlotte Herzberg, an eight-year-old girl from Monsey, New York, was riding her bicycle near her home when she was struck and killed by a car. The driver, who immediately accepted responsibility for the terrible accident, was the best friend of Charlotte’s father, Yudi.

“At that moment, my wife and I understood that we were facing an enormous challenge and test,” Yudi said in his eulogy for his daughter. “My best friend did not do this deliberately. It was a terrible accident, and we were not going to allow this tragedy to tear us apart. The Satan was testing us. He wanted to show that our beautiful neighborhood could not withstand machlokes—conflict and division. But the Satan underestimated us. We were going to prove him wrong.”

Yudi and his wife were determined to transform their tragedy into a force for unity and peace among the Jewish people.

The following day, when members of the community came to pay a shivah call, they witnessed an extraordinary sight: Yudi and his best friend—the driver who had struck Charlotte—embracing, crying, and literally holding one another up. Nearby, Chumi, Charlotte’s mother, and the driver’s wife held each other and wept.

Before the shivah ended, Charlotte’s family launched a campaign called “Shalom for Charlotte,” encouraging Jews everywhere to forgive, let go, and move forward. The grieving family is asking people to reach out to friends, relatives, neighbors, and colleagues, to release old grudges and resentments, repair broken relationships, and then share their stories.

At the time of writing, 2,383 stories from 42 countries had already been posted on the campaign’s website.

We can all choose to assign blame and cling to our grievances, the family says. But instead, they are asking people to “take the pledge and make shalom for Charlotte. Bring more shalom into the world and help bring Moshiach.”

The stories are remarkable. Two brothers who had not spoken for years began speaking again. Business partners who had been estranged for three months cleared the air and started rebuilding their relationship. A synagogue that could have been torn apart by the tragedy chose instead to unite around the campaign. Parents who had become estranged from their son sent him a message saying, “We’re thinking about you, and we hope everything is okay”—and received a response from him for the first time.

During the Three Weeks, we speak often about ahavat chinam—unconditional love. When the “Shalom for Charlotte” website had received “only” 500 stories, Rabbi Elya Brudny, one of the leading rabbis of American Jewry, devoted a class to the campaign.

“I could give many classes about the importance of creating peace within a community and refining one’s character,” he said. “But these days, we are witnessing a living lesson before our very eyes. There are extraordinary people among us who are asking us to rise higher.”

You can take part at ShalomForCharlotte.com

Read more by Sivan Rahav Meir at SivanRahavMeir.com.