Stories from Yonah's Shiva - Part 2

A man originally from Russia told us that he never saw Yonah get angry. He noted that there were situations that could have provoked any person to anger but not Yonah. Yonah took challenges in stride. He always said that everything would be “Kol BeSeder”. He believed that Hashem (G-d) ran the world and everything would turn out all right.

Some of Yonah’s friends told us that when he was asked what were his hopes and future dreams. He would stare at them with a big smile and say “I’m living my dreams. I am living in Eretz Yisroel (Land of Israel) in the Holy Land with my wife, child, and good in laws. I am part of an amazing community and I live near our forefathers. What more is there?” He was happy and content with his lot.

Three and half months ago, Yonah finally landed a good job in an internet company. For almost 3 years Yonah tried to obtain Israeli citizenship but his identity and some other immigrants’ identities were stolen by a dishonest government official. It took 3 years to clear up this mess and regain his identity and finally his citizenship. So for 3 years Yonah couldn’t get a good job until now. His employers came to the shiva home to tell us about Yonah. They told us that they hired Yonah on the spot because of his attitude. It was an attitude of determination and flexibility. Yonah learned the concepts of his position in less than a day. That was phenomenal his employers told us because their previous employer took months to understand the job. Both were impressed with his honesty. They said he was “Yashar”. If he had to take some personal time off, he made those hours up ahead of time, not after. He was always punctual and was pleasant to work with. After Yonah’s probation period of 3 months, they told Yonah that he could have the job with a raise. At that time Yonah discussed with them some of his creative ideas to improve their company and website. They told us that his ideas were embraced enthusiastically and are being implemented now. They also shared with us that the day before the accident, Yonah said, “Good-bye” to each person at the company. He had never done that before.

Yonah’s Rabbis from Or Yerushalayim and Machon Lev came to share some other stories about Yonah. They described how he always worked diligently to understand certain difficult parts of Gemarah (Talmud). He often wanted to figure the meaning out himself and then discuss his opinions with his Rabbis. They disclosed to us that when they asked him if anything was difficult, he would often say, "Yes, this part is difficult. But I’ll work on it and I will grasp it.”

There was a handsome young Israeli man, named Yair, and his girlfriend who spoke English. Yair spoke about Yonah’s incredible hospitality and his love for his wife.

Yonah gave his guests his full attention and made them feel at home and comfortable. Yair expressed that he hoped one day to replicate Yonah’s warm hospitality in his future married home. I was mesmerized by Yair’s beautiful mannerism and the English words he chose. He continued to tell us how privileged he felt to have met him and that even if he had foreknown Yonah’s tragic ending, he would have not missed the opportunity to meet and interact with him. Yair not only attended Yonah’s funeral but also took a day off from his job to say Kaddish over Yonah’s grave after shiva.