"We Don't Ask Why, We Say Thank You": Father's Heart-Wrenching Eulogy for Son Killed in Jerusalem Protest

Thousands gathered in Jerusalem Wednesday for the funeral of Yosef Eisental, a 14-year-old yeshiva student who was fatally struck by a bus following protests against Israel's military draft law. In a eulogy that left no eye dry, his father delivered words of profound faith amid unbearable loss.

"God gave and God took, blessed be the name of God from now until forever, Yossi! Our Yossi was a precious son to me, a child of delight," the grieving father cried out before the massive crowd at the funeral procession, which departed from the Ramot neighborhood yeshiva in Jerusalem.

The father painted a portrait of a remarkable young man devoted to Torah study and acts of kindness. "I remember when Yossi was a 6-year-old boy, he went out with his mother and had 20 shekels of his own to buy candy. On the way, he saw someone asking for charity. He couldn't stand it and said, 'Mom, I want to give him 20 shekels,'" he recalled.

He described how his son would return from his studies and distribute all the treats he received to family members rather than keeping them for himself. "After Yossi started learning Gemara, what a joy it was to study with you. How you loved to learn and understand everything completely. You never gave up, a child of delight."

The father recounted winter Shabbat evenings when Yossi, despite not yet being bound by the yeshiva's intensive study schedule, would insist on leaving the table at 8 p.m. to continue learning. "If I didn't finish the meal, you would simply say the blessing and get up and go study."

In recent months, Yossi had entered the prestigious Ohel Torah-Ponevezh Yeshiva, where he excelled. "During the last Hanukkah, you told me you took upon yourself to complete Tractate Bava Batra 10 times. I asked you how you do that, and you said simply, 'It's not a problem.' You asked me to buy you a Bava Batra Gemara to study while walking. You didn't get to use it many times."

The father noted that his son had recently taken a test on 30 pages of Talmud, getting only three questions wrong out of 30. "You had such a desire to know, to learn."

In the most emotionally charged moment of the eulogy, the father addressed the divine decree directly: "Master of the Universe! We don't ask why, it's forbidden to ask why. We say thank you very much for 14 years that You entrusted us with such a deposit, such a soul. I hope we guarded that deposit as we should. We made every effort both physically and spiritually. Father, we returned to You a pure soul, a soul that departed from the world in the midst of a mitzvah."

He described the death as a "public sacrifice," noting the tears shed across the Jewish people in the last day. "Such a sacrifice. But it's known what Rabbi Elchanan said, that we must be careful not to have improper thoughts."

Turning to address his deceased son directly, the father said: "Yossi, our Yossi, you are ascending before the Throne of Glory. You are as close as can be. Tear open the gates of heaven, be an advocate. Be an advocate for me, that God will give me the strength to withstand this test and emerge stronger from it."

He asked his son to advocate for his mother, "who invested so much in you from the day you were born," for his sisters who loved him, and for his young uncle. "I promise you, Yossi, that we will make every effort to teach him who you were and what you were. He has someone to learn from."

The father concluded with a plea for the yeshiva world: "Be an advocate for the yeshiva world, that they won't disturb it in its learning. How much this bothered you in recent months, how much it pained you that they throw Jewish boys into prison."

The tragedy has sent shockwaves through Jerusalem's Orthodox community and reignited debates over protests and public safety in the capital.