On January 29, 2020, Ezra Schwartz’s life changed forever. His beloved wife, Reut, only 27-years old, was tragically killed when a truck crashed into the car she was driving. Reut left behind three young children, and a devastated husband who was determined to live the way Reut would have wanted…bringing joy and doing good in every way possible.
One of the first things Ezra did was ask for the name of that truck driver. He didn’t want to contact him out of anger, or hurt, or vengeance. Rather, he wanted to reach out to him to comfort him. To give him a hug. The letter below is what he wrote to that driver. Since then he did meet him and his wife who Ezra described as “pure gold.”
This is a remarkable act of humanity and a beautiful way of honoring Reut. Judaism teaches us that the righteous may physically leave us, but their imprint and impact continue to live on. Clearly the tremendous person Reut was is living on through Ezra…
Dear driver,
It’s me. Ezra, husband of Reut Schwartz of the Almashali family, who was killed in the accident. I don’t know who you are and you don’t know who I am. Death brought us together. It has bound us by blood. Whenever my wife and I heard about an accident, the first thing my wife, of blessed memory, would do was to think about the survivors. Those who have perished have died, but those who survived must live. That’s what my wife was like — she was sensitive to the grief of life. For this reason, the first thing I asked to find out after I received the devastating news about the accident was to find out who the offending driver was and how we can help him to overcome the crisis.
When I heard the details of the accident, I was even more horrified to find out that an innocent driver who set out on an innocent drive found himself killing another person and had no ability whatsoever to stop it. It is shocking. It is unjust and unfair. There is no reason for such a thing to happen.
I have nothing in my heart for you except for a lot of pity and prayers that you will overcome the terrible crisis and will be able to live a happy and good life. I am now fulfilling my wife’s unwritten will. I would very, very much like to meet you and give you a hug. You need to rise up, get stronger, and go on with your life with a great deal of might. During her life, my wife did good for everyone. I do not want the opposite to happen, God forbid, in her death.
Thinking about you all the time,
Ezra Schwartz
Translated from the Hebrew by Shira Pasternak Be’eri. Source: Times of Israel / Sivan Rahav Meir. Header Image: courtesy of Schwartz Family
