InKredible Kids
A podcast with Kosher content geared toward empowering Jewish kids of all ages. We interview kids from around the world and have many interactive segments for all kids to enjoy. While having fun and learning new skills, kids will hear about responsibility, empathy, confidence, and more!
InKredible Kids
Missing Shmuly: A Conversation for the Nine Days
The Nine Days before Tisha B’Av are a time when we remember what we’ve lost—the Beis Hamikdash, of course, and so much more.
In this very special episode, I sit down with four amazing siblings from Ramot, Yerushalayim—Moshe (15), Nachi (13), Aaron (12), and Leah (9)—who share their story about their little brother Shmuly a”h, who passed away when he was only two years old.
They talk about how they remember him, how their family keeps his memory alive, and how his short life still makes a big difference in their home. From a special memory box with Shmuly’s toys, to birthday cards they write him every year, these kids show us what real love, pain, and nechama look like.
We also speak about how missing Shmuly helped them understand what it means to miss the Beis Hamikdash—and how their pain helped them feel more for other people in Klal Yisrael who are also going through hard times.
When Nachi says, “When Mashiach comes, Shmuly will come too,” it’s a reminder that our personal tefillos and dreams are all part of the bigger picture of geulah.
This episode is emotional, inspiring, and so real. It will help you think about the Nine Days in a whole new way—with heart, with hope, and with love for all of Am Yisrael. 💔➡️❤️
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🎬 Don’t forget to pre-order our brand new Tisha B’Av film “Rebuild: The Quest to Bring Moshiach” at ikfilm.org — a powerful and meaningful way to spend Tisha B’Av as a family.
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Join the Chai-a-thon at chaiathon.org to help children fighting serious illness while earning prizes and making a difference through kindness and tzedakah.
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🎧Remember to send all responses, questions, comments, and ideas to ikidspodcast@gmail.com.
🎧Make sure to follow InKredible Kids on your favorite podcasting app, so you never miss an episode. Be sure to rate the podcast⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and drop a review!
🎧Explore our website: https://inkrediblekids.org/
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Hey kids, welcome back to the next episode of the Incredible Kids Podcast. My name is Moritz Ciri and I will be your host. Through this incredible journey, we are going to meet many incredible kids. They are going to share with us their stories, some of them super cool and different, like you've never heard before, and some you may say are just ordinary, but all of them incredible. If you have great ideas, email me today at ikidspodcasts at gmailcom. And now it's time for Incredible Kids. Hi everybody, welcome back to Incredible Kids.
Speaker 1:Today's episode does not start with a joke because today I'm cutting it for the nine days. I felt like maybe it wasn't so pretty much on point with today's topic conversation and the time that we're in right now, the nine days in the midst of a time that kind of always feels Tisha B'Avi because of what the Jewish people are going through in Eretz, israel and around the world. This episode is not going to be the kind of episode that makes you scared and sad all the way. It's going to have just real talk with an amazing family that has been through a hard time. But you're going to, I'm telling you, you're going to listen and you're going to be inspired and you're going to find yourself smiling actually a lot, because of the way that they approach hardship that they went through in their life and how they use it to yearn for Moshiach, and hopefully we will be able to catch it from them Like it's something contagious. I also just want to say that if you're an Incredible Kids listener, you're somebody who's waiting for the next episode of Incredible Kids to come out. Make sure to like and subscribe to Incredible Kids on all of the listening and viewing channels that are out there and available. You know what they are. Give those five-star ratings. It helps boost Incredible Kids into new people's feeds so that we can get new families involved and you can be a part of that mission of spreading Incredible Kids throughout the Jewish world.
Speaker 1:And something that I am so antsy to share with the entire world is that our brand new Incredible Kids film production called Rebuild the Quest to Bring Moshiach is now available for pre-order at ikfilmorg. If you're listening to this on the day that this episode comes out, but already on Thursday, july 31st, you can watch right before Tisha B'Av. You can start watching this film experience this way if Tisha B'Av for you is ahead of the game, if you're in Israel, or even Australia or Japan or something where there's a huge time difference and Tisha B'Av is way before us in America, then you could already be watching it on Tisha B'Av, where you are, and, of course, everybody in Europe and then in America and in South America and wherever you are in the world you can watch this video. I made it with my full heart and soul and every single limb of my body. You're going to see that the message of loving every single Jew is brought across in so many gorgeous ways. We went to Kibbutz near Oz, which was so sad, but at the same time, I brought incredible kids with me and you might even be listening to this now if you were with me in Israel. So many kids from Israel came and we Planted the ground of our disrael in that place where there was so much destruction on October 7th. But we want to help plant, we want to help build, we want to rebuild, we want to become close to other Jews and we want Hashem to see what we're doing and say okay, I get it, enough is enough, I will bring you Mashiach and then you could have your rebuilt Bisa Mikdash. If you are interested in that mission well, obviously you are, then make sure that your Tisha B'Av includes watching this film. It is about an hour long. It is going to maybe a drop more. It is going to leave you with feelings of so much pride. You with feelings of so much pride, so much joy of being a Jew, dedication to loving every single member of the Jewish nation, learning about doing more chesed.
Speaker 1:I don't want to spoil it for you. There's a lot of things going on in this that you're going to appreciate and enjoy, and after you watch the film, please send me your feedback. I would love to hear what you gained from it and what stood out for you. I hope this brings us to the next level, which is Mashiach. In today's episode, you're also going to hear a plug for the Chaiathon, which is something that you know I am a big, huge fan of. If you haven't checked out their new website, chaiathonorg, it is not too late to sign up. You're going to be blown away by all of the cool features that they added to it. Anyone who was on the Tehillim army, you may have seen that I kind of like unboxed this cool package that they sent that you're all able to get. You'll hear more about that later, and I really hope that you all gain from this episode, because these kids, the Berman family, are going to talk about Shmali. You're going to find out who that was and why.
Speaker 1:This is a meaningful topic for right now. Sit back, soak it in and together we'll be ready to embrace Tisha B'Av If we have to have a Tisha B'Av in a year without Moshiach. Once again, let's have a perspective shared with us from these incredible kids Moshe, nachi, aaron and Leah. Okay, let me just see who's who. I guess Moshe, you're the oldest right. Moshe's with the watch. Hi, moshe, how old are you? 15. All right. And then hi, nachi, how old are you? I'm 13. And then Aaron. Well, one boy left. How old are you? 12.? 12. And then, how old are you Leah? Nine, nine, yeah, okay, great, amazing. And I heard that you are doing this in your grandparents apartment. Yeah, okay, I appreciate that. And your mother told me that it's probably quieter there because for you, it's like bedtime in your house, right?
Speaker 3:So the younger kids would be probably a distraction for us. Where are you guys in the world?
Speaker 1:Remote in Yerushalayim. Where exactly is remote in Yerushalayim Like? What's it closest to Like? How far is it from the Kosel? 50 minutes? Does the Rakevet Hakotel run in your area?
Speaker 3:No Rakevet.
Speaker 1:Hakotel is only in the Eratika, it's only for the old city. Yeah, interesting. You know that I've been to Ars Essel a bunch of times and this past time that I went in the summer was the first time I ever saw that train.
Speaker 3:Yeah, but it's only in the old city.
Speaker 1:I never saw it, though. It's the cutest thing. It looks like it's from a storybook, I know. Does anyone ever go on it?
Speaker 3:because it was pretty empty, yeah like now is uh, now when, when no one is uh, when like no one's in school. So everyone who goes to the hotel and they don't want to walk because it's smoldering here.
Speaker 1:Uh-huh, take the train. Okay, that's fun, it looks fun. Did you guys ever go back? No, we didn't. I got excited when I saw it. It looked like something from like make-believe, I don't know. It was funny. Well, it is a special opportunity to speak with you guys, because anytime I speak with people in Aratisra I have a lot of confusing feelings. I would say Like a little bit jealous of you and also happy for you, and also curious about a lot of things. But today our topic is a little bit more serious and you guys are going to be the ones to decide almost how sad or how hopeful we want this to be, because the topic we're about to talk about is something that I'm sure is not like an easy topic for people to talk about. I don't know you guys yet so well, so maybe we'll find it to be easier than I expected. But again, we're in a little bit of a serious time right now. Because, because, why it's?
Speaker 1:a time that Beta Mikdash was like destroyed AKA, otherwise known as the nine days. How do you say the nine days in Hebrew? Tisha Tayamim, tisha Tayamim? Yep, just like that, okay, yeah, one of my kids was like on Shabbos she's like when are the nine weeks? And I was like, oh, please, no, I don't think I could do nine weeks.
Speaker 3:I said that by accident on Shabbos, oh really.
Speaker 1:It's an honest mistake. But I was like, no, don't get any ideas. No, nine weeks, three weeks, is more than enough. Because, again, like it's remembering something that is important, like we shouldn't be like, oh, it's the nine days. Like I have no patience for this, because it's an important thing that Hashem gave us that we have a time to reflect, because imagine if we didn't have the nine days, then we could almost, like, go an entire year without feeling sad about what happened to the Bisa Mikdash or wishing for a better world.
Speaker 1:It's really a gift. It's not fun no one said it's going to be fun but it's really an opportunity for us. So we're going to use this opportunity and I want you Berman kids, moshe, nachi, aaron and Leah I know you're not the whole family, so we'll talk about the rest of your gang in a minute, but I want you to talk about a little bit of your personal loss in your lives, your family experience, losing someone special, and that feeling of loss and also the flip side, the feeling of hope, what we wish for and what we dream about, because we know what loss feels. Like. It's going to maybe be helpful to our listeners when we talk about a loss for all of the Jewish people and what that feels like, and maybe compare them a little bit, and maybe we'll be able to think about how we all could just try to hope for something better. So, moshe, you can start us off. You're the oldest. Tell us what we're here to talk about today, and then we'll go from there.
Speaker 3:I think that today because this podcast is gonna come out in the nine days so it's like the connection between how our personal loss and all of Israel's loss and we could feel it better because we lost something that's really special for us, and the B'Tanuchad should also be something that's really really special for us too. But it's not only about our loss, also how we grown from it, like how we grow from the loss of B'Tanuchad, even though it's not with us, and we should, should remember it every day. But still, I don't know Like it's just how to like be sad but to live our lives because we're here now.
Speaker 1:I love that. I love how you frame that, like how you added something that I didn't say. You added the fact that, like, yes, losing the Beis Hamikdash should to us and it should be said, but at the same time, you should also be able to grow from the experience so that it could bring us closer to the next step. We can hear from nachi now what your family's personal loss that moshe referenced is talking about yeah, so we had a very special brother, surely he had, he had some problems.
Speaker 3:He would cry and cry and cry and then he wouldn't breathe and he would faint. So there were like two times in the two years of his life one time was like a friday and the other time was like for him, where he like wouldn't wake up easily so he had to call hot cell. That was like it happened two times and, like we were used to, like people would come over and like see my brother, and they would like make me shocked. And we were like he was like seeing my brother again, all purple and his eyes squirming around and fainting, that we would wake him up a second later. And then, like when it came, like we didn't believe, like we went to our neighbors when the day happened. We were like I don't think something really happened. Like he fainted, like usually, like a teleconference. He goes to the hospital and they say that nothing special happened and that's it.
Speaker 1:That's how we felt. Wow, okay, so, nachi, that you had a brother named Shmully and he passed away when he was two years old. Yes, so that's really really, really difficult. How many children are in your family? Now, altogether Seven. When someone asks, like a random person that's meeting, you says, like, how many kids are in your family? Do you say seven or eight?
Speaker 3:Well, probably when it was closer to Shmully's passing it would be a bit like harder for me to answer the question. Yeah, but now harder for me to answer the question. Yeah, but now, like I don't know, unfortunately, I just need to say that we just have seven.
Speaker 1:I don't really every person that asked me how many are in our family you say including shmully, but right, because then if you start saying then it's a whole conversation every time like, oh, we had a brother, right, it's not always the right time to share your whole life story with strangers. Okay, so there's seven of? And what number was Shmully in your family?
Speaker 3:Right after.
Speaker 1:Leah, it was the four of you. And then Shmully, yes, and was he the youngest? Yeah, so after Shmully's passing, your family had three more children. Yes, so really, the four of you are probably the only ones who have memories. I mean, you are the only one to have memories of Shmully. You are like the fantastic four over here. You are the ones who are holding Shmully's torch also for the rest of your siblings who came around.
Speaker 1:And I believe that, moshe, when you had emailed me Moshe, you're very articulate you wrote a beautiful email explaining the whole situation. You said you're the oldest and you're all boys with Leah. Leah's the one girl with all the boys, including Shmully. So there were seven boys and Leah, which is a lot. Leah, we can make a whole podcast about that. Leah, right? Yeah, let me just ask you quickly, like, how is that for you? It's hard, but it's easy. Okay, tell me one reason why it's hard and one reason why it's easy. Sometimes, if they go out for something for the boys only, so like I stay home by myself, like if there's a boys only activity, then it's like you're not included and the good part is that when I get to go out with my mother, nobody else comes.
Speaker 1:You don't have to like share any of the girly privileges because it's just you, okay, I see that two sides of the coin. Probably every time your mother had a baby, you're probably like secretly wishing it was a girl, maybe, right. But then, of course, you're so happy, no matter what, because it's you know, just another yummy brother, baruch Hashem. It's something to be so grateful for, but I can see why that's hard also. So anyways, going back to what we were talking about before, your family, kanai and Har seven of you now and your parents live in remote. What do you guys love most about your family, like, what's something special about your family? Before we get into more about Shmoli and what happened back then, I want to hear about your family now. Aaron, you want to tell us something special about your family.
Speaker 2:Since we're a lot of boys, we can play more games together. I'm not like like, if we're like half boys, half girls, so we can't play that much game today, yeah, but since it's all boys, so we could play like more tickets, like sports type of games, sports and also board games.
Speaker 3:We love board games. Every show we have like a bazillion board games and every show.
Speaker 1:Tell me which ones. We need ideas. My family is getting sick of our board games.
Speaker 3:Tickets arrived with like a lot of kinds, like 18. 18 tickets arrived. What 18 ticket drives? What? Like countries, expansions, countries, like different maps. Like you know, the one map is USA, so we have like Germany and Africa and Asia and Netherlands and UK and Pennsylvania and India.
Speaker 1:That's very cool. I didn't even know they make all of those. You have 18 different Ticket to Rides, yeah.
Speaker 3:But some of them come in one box which is like the board.
Speaker 1:You could flip the board. Got it, got it Okay, because we have one and it's the junior version. No, but I'm being really serious for a second, like on Shabbos, when you play Ticket to Ride it's version, because you don't have, to like, keep track of points, because we're older, we like like three hour games, like we'll play risk every shabby's.
Speaker 3:We have settlers and five expansions and like a huge expansion that takes like four hours to play all kinds of stuff like that well, you guys have a lot of patience then yeah, and what.
Speaker 1:And also, our father likes games, so also okay, games are a great bonding thing, like best memories of playing board games with people that you love, like they're just they go on forever. If they go on forever, you have to like the people you're playing with. But yeah, it's so funny that you mentioned Ticket to Ride first, because we were just saying on Shabbos that our Ticket to Ride board is broken and we need to buy a new one. But maybe we should just take one of your 18, because it sounds like you could spare one. I'll put like on a chat, like anyone coming from Eretz, israel that could bring back a board game for this Nabok family.
Speaker 3:Me and Aaron are coming on Tuesday.
Speaker 1:Perfect. No, please don't bring us that. I'm just kidding. We'll order a new one. It's our favorite game, thank you. Oh, I just got a delivery from my daughter. See, this is what boy families don't know so much about. Leah, see what I just got. Leah loves that out. Leah, see what I just got from. My daughter just made this for me in the other room. She just deposited it on my desk. They know not to interrupt when I'm doing an interview, so for the listener, it's a rainbow loom colorful bracelet. I love it. Thank you, hello, leah, you would love a hoover. You're the same age. You're both nine years old.
Speaker 1:Do you hate when, like, mothers say that, because my kids hate it, you know? Like, when they say like, oh, like, even with the boys, right, like, do your parents ever do that? Like, this is my son Nachi. He's, you know, 13,. Right, he's 13 and you're 13. Like, you guys should be best friends. It's like hello, masha. No-transcript.
Speaker 1:Bring the conversation back to shmully. Now that I understand where shmully came in your family and, um, he was your baby. Like, he was your yummy baby. You guys were just living your life. Now he described quickly the progression of what went. I guess what happened that you know eventually led to his passing. But it's so, so personal. It's so close to your heart. Everyone knows, like when you have a big family that, like whoever's the baby at the time is just the best one, like they're your baby, Like you don't get mad at your baby the minute there's another child. You get mad at the young second to youngest Right, but like is your baby right? You know what I'm talking about. I see our own smiling. It's like the baby's like always, always like, loved by everyone. Tell me something that you guys remember about your schmoly so he had something very special on him.
Speaker 3:When he would see us fight he would cry. Then I told you like the progress would be that I would think there's something really special about him.
Speaker 1:We, when we would fight he would like he would start crying. You're saying he was distressed, Like it made him like, yeah, he couldn't handle it to see people fighting.
Speaker 3:That was like our signature to stop fighting and it was also like so nice. He always like gave us stuff like his favorite boys, like he had like this car that he used to love to play. My mother actually made a box out of all the stuff that he likes, like a book and a car. And also there was a song he liked, nunu, by Uri Davidi. My mother actually sent a letter to him after saying like it was very emotional. She said like how he loved his song and it really helped him and it really helped my mother. Nunu, like Gamzul Tova, yeah.
Speaker 1:He probably loved hearing that over. Davidi, you can do like Nunu with this finger Also one time.
Speaker 4:I slept with it and one time I choked on a key and it was like screeching Because I couldn't talk. It was screeching to my mom and my mom came in.
Speaker 1:So he really saved you. Yeah, you choked on a key. You were like also like so little at the time. How old were you then? Like four, okay. So you guys were so close in age. You were roomy. He saw that something was off. It sounds like he was between what you just said about him, like not liking the fighting, and it sounds like he had this special way of like sensing what was going on at like even though he was a baby actually it was mr and shabbos, and the last picture is from era of shabbos and shmoya leia in the pantry eating bomba.
Speaker 1:We were big buddies yeah, oh well, you were a little leia at the time, but do you remember like how you felt after he? You know the news that he was not with us anymore.
Speaker 4:I felt really sad, and every time I look at a picture of him, a very sweet picture of him, like when he's so maybe I was really feeling what to do if my mother will take out all of her pictures from the box and she'll start crying. So I'll make like me and and like not. He cry because she cries.
Speaker 3:That's also happens to my dad, like, like in one of the vile. We went, like this argentinian soldier and, like my father started crying, like I never saw him crying, crying, yeah, like argentinian. Like there was an argentinian soldier that passed away so he went to mount herzl for his uh funeral. I think the father said, like you just started your life and you finished it so fast. And then he said I can't say no more in spanish and my father's, like, come from spanish roots, my grandmother was born there, my grandmama lives there and he, like he understood what he said because we had shmully and he started crying and like my father never cries, and it was really hard for him and that made us cry, like if we see someone that we're not used to seeing crying it makes us cry.
Speaker 1:So that was a recent story. You're saying. Yeah, you're saying recently one of the israeli soldiers was having a levaya and your whole family went to it actually moshe was sitting like on the, on the, like on the.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, I was sitting on I want on like a ledge there and I was like this because I was like schmoiling and I had to sit down and like there was a newscast or something like that and they took a picture of me because I looked really sad and I looked like this and I looked like super sad and like they couldn't see my face, but I was all over the news and like people started sending my parents like, oh my gosh, is this your son? That's?
Speaker 1:so, son, that's so funny. They were probably like a boy is like, yeah, here's over headline news, but yeah, sometimes you just have to put your head down because you're hot. Sometimes it's even hard to even cry, especially now. We're in a time where there's so many horrible things that happen every single day. So every day there's news of, unfortunately, another soldier, and then, of course, between the situation with all of the hostages and all of these family members who are in pain, and just terrible stuff, it's almost like our tears don't even come out anymore Cause it's like it's too much, like we call it like the big fancy word for it is desensitized, like we almost like don't even know how to cry anymore about it because it's so almost regular but it's not, it's so crazy.
Speaker 1:But your father, like Nahi just shared, I guess connected to the father who was speaking, saying how right Is that what you were saying? Like he was talking about his son and, yes, his son was fighting as a soldier. He wasn't two years old, but he was very young, still with an entire life ahead of him, and each loss like that is major. He was able to connect with that and I agree with you when you see a person who always is like your strength. Like many people don't ever see their father's cry. Some fathers cry very easily, but many fathers are very strong, not to say that the other ones aren't strong, but different kind of strong. When you see someone like that cry, then it's like oh my gosh, like this is very, you know, different actually, um happened in 2021 and she was left in, uh, february um 2020.
Speaker 3:so one of the people that were killed in the sun, they live in our neighborhood, they live like a two minute walk away and her mother and my mother they met and they started talking about what they passed and it was like, really, it was really nice to see how, like, they're sharing their pain. But my mother was like, oh my gosh, like I cry a lot. And the other mother was like, no, I, let's cry. I mourn in a different kind of way. Everyone has their own, their own way.
Speaker 1:If you don't cry, it doesn't mean anything Right, and it doesn't mean that you don't care, it's just different. It's different ways of expressing ourselves. Hashem made everyone different. I can cry very, very easily, but doesn't mean that I'm any more special than someone who can't cry easily. You know, it's just different.
Speaker 3:There are actually a lot of people that four, five people that were killed like seven, six people that were killed like saving, six people that were killed in gaza are from ramo.
Speaker 1:There was one hostage, that he was killed from ramo, and that's auri danino yes, and like.
Speaker 3:He has a brother that's like 16 and he's my friend like, and I knew him and why not? He knew him. I walked over to the shiva. I'm like I'm standing like in a pool there, I'm like getting ready to leave, and he comes over to me.
Speaker 1:He's like, and he was like, oh, berman, I'm like hey, like you went to the, you went to the shiva for ori, yeah, yeah because, like my father said that um the prime minister was there. So I wanted to go see him here. I was thinking that you're going because you actually care and I'm kidding. Of course you care, yeah, no, but seeing the prime minister is also like, not something that happens every day.
Speaker 3:When I heard that Ori Danilo was found killed, like I was like mouth open. I was like, wow, like, as I see Ori, I like see him as a strong person, as a person who could survive the hell that's going on in Gaza.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that, amongst so many others, are just crazy situations where we can't really understand why. Or it doesn't make like you said it doesn't really make he's such a strong guy or it doesn't make like you said, it doesn't really make he's such a strong guy. He was a fighter. Like how is that?
Speaker 3:possible. We also have twins from our neighborhood, brothers that were killed together on the 7th of October. We had not recently like there were five Haredi soldiers who got killed. One of them was from remote and we had over 10, more and more soldiers, just like hard, do you feel it?
Speaker 1:I mean, it's amazing because you mentioned that you went to a Levaya for an Argentinian soldier on Har Herzl. I would imagine, though, most kids like in your school or in your class, like do they usually do things like that, or is that something your family is different about?
Speaker 3:Also, I was Argentinian, so my father, who is also Argentinian, like grew up and his mother was Argentinian. His first language and my first language was spanish, although I don't know it anymore, but um, so he felt like really connected and that's what I don't think, that we don't go like. If it's had with it, it's like really special and but there were gazillion people there to show how much you don't see that a lot.
Speaker 1:Let's say in every single community that you have families going together to see what's going on there, because people think, oh, if you're an artisal or you're living in Yerushalayim, then, like, you're probably thinking about the war every second right, like, but it's not necessarily like that you could be that way. You could be totally the opposite and non-involved or somewhere in the middle, which is probably healthy, you know, probably not such a good idea to be like. If you told me that you went to every single Levi on Har Herzl, then that would be too much right To get. The experience of seeing what Klaus Rall is going through is so valuable. It's really special that you're able to take part in that. What did you want to say, leah?
Speaker 4:Also my mom sent her son my mom's friend sent like two months ago got run over by a car and he was in critical condition and like after a few weeks he, michael showed me, recovered fast. But then it happened to another family. Like three days ago the same thing happened.
Speaker 3:A girl got run over, it was on an electric scooter and a car came into her Actually my mom's giving a cheer tonight for their family or maybe like in a different house, but like for her and for us it was Moshe's friend who got run over. So they had like two weeks. They had like kumzits on our house. One time they had like a whole big thing and a shul he goes to like two shuls and both of the shuls came together and and both of the shuls came together and his mom's friend came.
Speaker 3:It's so sad that like in like a month and a half to almost exact same stuff happened, like they got run over, they were in critical condition and that kid was my friend that got ran over. First he's walking and he literally like they wanted to take off his foot and he was like. He was like totally he was out of it. He was a very, very critical condition and now he talks, he walks. I don't know if he runs, but he's was like totally he was out of it, he was a very, very critical condition and now he talks, he walks. I don't know if he runs, but he's in a rehab, but he's still he's like a really good.
Speaker 1:Wow, that's crazy. So the second situation you just said it was a girl who was on an electric scooter yeah, the boy is recovering.
Speaker 3:He's done to recover. Boom, a girl got ran over. We hope the same uh, we hope the same results will happen to that girl.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh, that's so scary.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's also a good cautionary thing to remind people with electric scooters you know, I always tell this to kids even with a bicycle or even with walking on the sidewalk, sometimes you can be doing everything right, but you always need to remember that a car is very powerful and dangerous and you always have to be on the lookout. It's our responsibility when you're in the street, to just always be. You shouldn't be terrified, but you should be aware. And these electric scooters are scary because they stop and start so abruptly you know what I'm saying and they like zoom forward and if you don't have a good control over it and you don't follow all the, I don't know anything about this story, but I just see when I'm driving around, then I see so many kids in america. I don't know what's happening in israel with electric scooters. Do you see a lot of that in israel?
Speaker 3:oh yeah, and I always see her driving nice, like she doesn't drive so fast. I always see her with the helmet. Usually it's with a laptop on her back?
Speaker 1:no, it could. It could be a great thing, but we just have to be so careful. It's like such a scary thing and drivers like we just have to be on the alert because we have to know. Now you share the road with electric scooters, but Hashem should send her a big refuah and everybody should continue to be safe in all these situations. This is a big reminder that we're in Golis and tragedies happen and we need to be strong. So we mentioned in the beginning how Shmuley, your dear, dear Shmuley, left an impact with you guys and you remember him and you continue on to talk about him and to keep his memory alive. What do you do as a family to remember Shmuley? Maybe on his yard site, or maybe every day, I don't know. What do you want to share?
Speaker 4:Every time we get to the day he passed away, I'm like I want to show this. We're going to have one pack of To heal To heal.
Speaker 3:Also, on his birthday we write cards. Like we have a mall next door so Ema goes and she buys a lot of stickers and tapes. And even I, who are 15, I do, and it's really fun to make like a nice card that Shmueli will miss you and we put it in Shmueli's box, that he said before we save it and on his yurt site, you know, like actually something really special. My bar mitzvah is Yud-Techva, which was a Thursday, and he was nifter on Chaf-Shva. That's his yurt site. So my Shabbos bar mitzvah was his yurt site.
Speaker 3:Wow, yeah, I remember my Shabbos. It wasn't really sad. When I spoke I reminded Shmuel like I spoke about Shmuel but it wasn't really all about Shmuel Like my parents asked me what I wanted to do. It's funny. So on his birthday, when we're done writing the cards, we go open the box. And this year we opened the box and we see, like when we were younger, we write like the funniest things, like we'll miss you, like all right, thank you, hashem, and there'll be like initials that are right, like the words won't come from you and I'll write in the age. I'll write like Hashem will be on your side and they'd be so funny.
Speaker 1:I like our funny stuff, like the kids you're like wow, I was so inspirational at age, whatever.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we're like looking at it cracking up. It's also sad like Iman made an album of Shmuelid, Like an album with all the pictures. That's like a 200, like 150, I don't know a lot of that pages.
Speaker 4:The album was like all the letters people wrote we saved a favorite book that was destroyed. What was his favorite book? An animal book. He loves animals. He used to crack up every page. You flipped and you would give an animal, he would crack up.
Speaker 1:He had a good sense of humor. Yeah, so cute. You just shared that you have this box where you like, almost like, remember Shmuley with this box of you put letters on his birthday, which is such a sweet, sweet idea to keep him in your lives. If you were able to tell him a message, what would you want to tell Shmuley For real, like, if you can tell Shmuley something, what would you want him to know?
Speaker 4:That I really miss him and I really wanted to come back really fast and we're davening for you and we're davening for all the people that also had a problem or something else. We're davening for all of them.
Speaker 3:That she'll come problem or something else that I mean for all of them that Mashiach will come. And also it's so good how, like when we think about Shmuel and how I want to come soon, it's also about the Mashiach, because when Mashiach will come, shmuel will come. So it makes us even feel more wanting and longing of the Mashiach in the nine days for the Mashiach to come, like always in every drusha that a rabbi gives, and with that we'll be able to see Mashiach's new hair by Meino Abim. Not always, but it's difficult. I'm pretty bored. I'd be a skilled tzedek, right? Yeah, we'll see him in hair by Meino Abim.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, because that should always be on a Jew's lips. We'll be right back to this conversation. Hey, incredible kids, guess what? We're back for our third year partnering with the Chai-a-thon, and this year they've made it better than ever. Chaiathonorg, take out a pen and paper and write this down. Chai-a-thon Just launch their brand new website and let me tell you it's incredible.
Speaker 1:You can earn prizes in a whole new way. You raise money for Chai Lifeline and in return, you get Chai Bucks like real money, that you can redeem for real prizes in a super cool online prize store. And instead of paying by credit card, you pay with your very own Chai Bucks that you raised. Every dollar that you raised goes directly to help kids fighting serious illness. You might remember we once actually did a whole episode featuring the important work of High Lifeline, and then you have a proper understanding of exactly what kind of special holy organization you are raising money for. And this year there's even another new element when you raise your first $50, you can redeem those bucks for a stand-up kit. They send you a box to your house, a complete set to build your very own lemonade stand. Bake sale pop-up shop Comes with just like tons of custom swag, like the cutest lemonade cups that are like printed with lemons on them, and little High Lifeline logos and banners for whatever you decide you're making, and an apron and a baseball cap so you can make your very own iconic Chai Lifeline pop-up sale of your kind, raising money in your way, with your own ideas and your own heart. And that's what this is all about Kids helping kids, kindness in action. Especially now it's the three weeks, there's nothing greater than giving tzedakah and increasing chesed, and this is a way to do it. So let's go Head to chayatanorg, sign up and let's change lives together, because at Incredible Kids we don't just talk about being great, we stand up and do it. Who's joining me? And now back to the Berman kids.
Speaker 1:One of the things that they say like when a person goes up to Shemaim after 120, one of the questions that you'll be asked is Tzipita liyashua right, did you wait for Moshiach? Did you yearn for Moshiach? Did you look for Moshiach? Did you do that? Every day? And it sounds like, especially with you guys, the Burman kids, you understand that wanting your Shmuley is helping you yearn for Mashiach. In a sense, it's something on your minds, whereas maybe for others, they don't always think about what Mashiach means to them, what the future holds for them, but for you, t'chiyas HaMisim and having your family complete once again is a big reason to want Mashiach in itself. You know, when I was just in Israel a few weeks ago getting ready for this Tisha B'Av video that we're putting out next week or this week I don't even know when it is I got into a taxi with an Israeli cab driver, and you know how taxi rides are in Israel.
Speaker 3:They're like the guy that is a taxi driver. Should they? Everyone asks in.
Speaker 1:Israel. Why is it the taxi driver? The prime minister? He knows everything Exactly. Why did they ask him to be the prime minister? So this guy, I asked him if he wants Mashiach.
Speaker 1:Part of the video that I'm making is that we were asking people. I had like boys asking people in the streets like do you want Mashiach? Why do you want Mashiach, like you know? So I had this big poster rolled up with me and it said, like what are you doing to bring Mashiach? We were going to put on a table in the old city. So I had it in the car with me and he said what are you holding? So I said you want to see him Like, but first you have to tell me if you want Mashiach. He said Mashiach, there's no such thing. So I got very upset and I was like, excuse me, please do not take Mashiach away from me. Thank you very much. I was like, if you don't know it yet, I understand. Life is really hard. Everyone here has their own challenges and, for whatever reason, you feel like Moshiach is not a real thing. By the end of the car ride I convinced him that Moshiach is real.
Speaker 3:Let's just say I asked him what.
Speaker 1:He will. Of course he will, and not just that. I was like I'll find you and we'll talk about how funny this is, that you once told me this. I said to him can I just ask you a question, like, why are you so against the concept? Like you know that we're living in a crazy time, right? Isn't it the video, this part? Yeah, it should be, but it wasn't, because I was just in the taxi. I didn't have my video guys with me. I really should take a video camera with me wherever I go, because that's like the best moment. But either way, I said to him what's the problem? Why? Why are you so against mashiach? So you know what he said to me. You're not gonna believe it. It's actually funny. He said if mashiach comes and then there's the hiata, me seem he's like there's no room for everybody here, maybe you should put them on his taxi and they don't see that.
Speaker 1:Are you serious? I was like that's what you're worried about. I was like we have a promise that Arat Israel is going to fit everyone. Yerushalayim will stretch. I'm like screaming at him. I'm like, don't you know, arat Israel is called Arat Tzvi and, like you know, like all the things I learned in Bissakov, you know, like I'm telling him all these things and by the end of the ride it was like a 25 minute drive and by the end of the ride we were friends, we were great. But now he believes in Moshiach, maybe.
Speaker 1:But I just the point was I said, keep an open mind, right, like if you don't believe it all the way, just just don't. Don't say you don't believe in it, just just say I'll wait and see. You know, just be ready because he might come today and when he comes, be ready to expect him. We need to live those kinds of lives. So, okay, back to what you guys were saying before. You mentioned also in the beginning, moshe, that the situation that your family went through five years ago a little bit more than five years ago, so that you know, losing Shmuley was something that your family felt, loss. It's a terrible, terrible thing, and you said that you grew from it in some ways, so this is like a big question, like any of you who want to share how you feel like you grew like became a better person. Maybe your family became better at something.
Speaker 3:This is when we were younger kids so like we didn't really understand so much how it is using a brother than how we are now, like you have someone and you're not going to have him again. It's like crazy to think about it. I think I saw once in a newspaper story where there was a guy who got killed I think a druze guy who got killed, and the day he got killed in his gilgul he was born and I don't know how like I don't remember the real story. Like in his dream, someone told him that like this is your family and like his son was nine years older than him and he reunioned with his family, which is a crazy story. That like never happened. I don't remember the details, but I remember that's like the point of the story. It's crazy. Wow, I think that I've grown from it.
Speaker 3:And a lot of stories, let's say, you know that every day maybe not every day, but whenever like someone loses someone, or when a when a hayal died, so you're usually like, okay, he died and he's in somewhere, like in another part of israel and I don't know where he is, and so people said you're like, okay, that's very sad, but now that shmuel was niftar, even though that I was 10 and even though that I'm sorry to say, but shiva, I was 10, okay, so be more like, don't get mad at me, but the shiva was fun. There were a lot of people around me and I love when people are in the house. I was getting everything that I wanted. I didn't go to school.
Speaker 1:It was like my dream weekend, even though don't put this in the podcast whatever you want, but I don't think there's anything wrong with saying that, but continue.
Speaker 3:So put it in the pocket whatever, just say your thought so, um, uh, yeah, and and now I like understand the style, like I saw how my father's crying and like we're so many, so many robotic people, I was like we're never tell our russian wife and my app was really close to them and they came to our house and it was so meaningful, even though I was 10, even though it's fun and even though everything left an impression on you.
Speaker 3:Yeah, even when someone um on the other side of the country dies, I still feel sad for them because, yeah, I know how it felt it was sad. And then you also see the videos. Like my mother, she understands it so much. You see it Like she used to never cry in the country. Now she does. She sees videos of Levias that she's been seeing for years. You're like a soldier. You're like a soldier was there. Like you should re-welcome some Leviah and start singing. My mother is just like sobbing. And then we asked her why. She said I understand the pain, I remember that pain. It was so sad for me and that's one thing that we also gained from.
Speaker 4:Now I know, like when we said Shmuley used to always stop fighting, like cry when somebody fights, yeah, so stop the fight. So I see it on Aaron, who he learned from it. He always, every Shabbos, sometimes we have a lot of fights and Aaron always comes in the middle and stands in the middle and he stops the fight.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh, kay, I'm crying. You just made me cry, I don't know why. First of all, that is the sweetest thing, leia, that you just like shouted out your brother in front of the screen Like Aaron is blushing, but it's like so cute and special that you just did that. You're basically sharing with us that your brother, aaron, has taken on what your shmuley started, making some sort of signal to stop the fighting. I'm sure I'm not the first one to say it, but that's like Aaron Hakohen, right, they say that parents know when they name their kids we call him.
Speaker 4:We tell him all the time, on every Shabbos, because he sits between the kids who fight the most. We always tell him you're the one who is the deafest, the longest, the longest. That's right.
Speaker 3:Always at the shop. He's people like always. I want to sit next to Iman, I want to sit next to this guest and that guest, so he just sits wherever in the plastic chair. That no one likes Aaron, even though he's so quiet.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh, that's so special, that is a really good lesson for everybody, everybody. Okay, because and, by the way, like I hope you know, that this happens in every single family in the entire world- right, yeah, that's what I was gonna ask you. Yeah, no, the see if I hello. We have a cheer about it in our house, like we know, like we anticipate it. It's something that happens and I think every single home even. Like you know, do you get Mishpacha magazine? You see the kichels? Obviously we have right.
Speaker 1:So like we're all the kichels.
Speaker 3:Yeah, totally. It's like making fun of the yeshiva shmuel.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we're supposed to be the kichels we are, and it's just part of life and we obviously have a lot of good things about us. It's part of what we need to do as people and all the regular challenges that we all face. But you're not alone. It is very special to have people in the family who are reminding us reminding us about the basics of Mido's.
Speaker 3:One of the Kichl jokes they have like a joke that it's a very messy house. Yeah, and the friend calls and like hey, I'm around in the city, like one of those cool friends. Like hey, I'm in the city, I'll be there in half an hour. And then like the lady's, like okay, I'll see you in the house. Like a huge mess, all the windows are shattered and the walls are dirty and she like stuffs everything in the, in the bathroom, in the bathtub, in the rooms, in the closets and and cleans up everything and puts the kids in. She walks in. She's like half crooked and like that's what really happened just now today, what that happened today.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was like clean, clean the morisserie. Can't see the mess. Okay, your father actually just sent me a picture of Leia with Shmully this is the picture you were talking about with the Bomba eating Bomba. This was the last picture. Yeah, gosh, it's adorable. You're like sitting in a cabinet together or something like in a corner making, you know, little mischievous faces such beautiful. I mean leah, you're adorable, and shmully has this beautiful blonde hair, also just different than yours. Yours is like curly and his was like straight with like also we had the same birthday.
Speaker 4:We always did the same birthday, really.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh. December 26th and December 28th, that's uncommon, december 26th and December 28th, but we did it together.
Speaker 4:One time we did a triple cake three layers Yum.
Speaker 1:You could get Duncan Hines in Israel or you have to get it sent yeah, but it costs like 40 shekels In America. It's like $1.50 a box. Really, yeah, it's so yum, it's so yum. I know Whoever Mr Duncan Hines is is a genius. I always say, yeah, I'd love to meet him. Interview him.
Speaker 1:We definitely should interview him for sure. Incredible people. So tying this all into the 90s and the time we are in right now, which is obviously a time where Moshiach is on everyone's minds, when Geula is something we all want, when nobody is looking forward to tish above. Um, yeah, and two of you have to fast. Yeah, masha and nachi hatslacha, but they're going to america.
Speaker 3:They're gonna have fun.
Speaker 1:Me and anna are going by ourselves nachi and aaron are going to america in two days. In two days. Where are you going to family queens? Do you have family there?
Speaker 3:yeah, grandpa but if I, if we have.
Speaker 1:We actually have an uncle in baltimore. They used to be our neighbors like a billion years ago oh, so then we got into you.
Speaker 3:So maybe when we go to that, when we, when we and leah are gonna fly to america, maybe we're gonna fly to took his and then we're gonna go and then we're gonna go to baltimore because okay, so you'll have to come visit.
Speaker 1:I cannot wait to meet you guys anyway. So, tying this back into the current timing right now we're in the 90s how do you think that this whole situation with Shmuley and your family and the growth that you've had, helps you relate to yearning for Abisa, mekdash and Gaula? Yeah, absolutely. And the concept of what we lost losing Shmuley, losing a brother who you loved, losing somebody who meant a lot to you, kind of like ruining the wholeness of your family. Like you can still have a good time, you could still have fun with your siblings, you could play board games on shabbos and you can travel to america with your brother, but at the end of the day, your family's not the same now, right? So how does that help you think about what we don't have anymore?
Speaker 2:like when you really have fun and then like remember that we're missing shmoli. So also honestly I wonder really, like we're, we're happy, so we always remember that we're still missing business, like it's always somewhere on your mind.
Speaker 1:Yeah, of course. Almost like when you build a home you're supposed to leave like a piece of your home, like zikar lakhorban, because you should never have like complete happiness, perfection, joy, like there's always a little bit of the remembrance of this is not the way it's supposed to be. Yeah, anyone else want to add to that? How that something real to you it'd be, for other people it's a bit more like go with the flow.
Speaker 3:Like you know, it's like part of our life. We were born with abyssinian mignosh. We live not with abyssinian mignosh, but we lived with something and we we really like feel how we felt, how we lost something that we had and we saw and that's it. It's done. People are born, grow up, know Bessamigdash and they continue in the year, but like they don't have like the history of knowing and feeling and being in Bessamigdash, we have the history of feeling and being with Shmuley.
Speaker 4:When I hear somebody like talk a bit with me, I always like picture in my mind how it used to look and I like really think about it like the whole day. Imagine we're now with Mason McDash and then, like when I don't see it anymore, I realize like, oh, it's not like the real one, it's not here with us now. So we need to remember Hashem is still with us and it doesn't mean that you can just like, do like whatever you want, like you know, eat, uh, something like not kosher. You can't do that. Hashem is still with you and you can't forget because we just you need a daven and you need a yearn for basically, like a yearn.
Speaker 1:It's impressive that you know words like that. By the way, even though, growing up in Eretz Israel, your parents probably make sure that you have a good vocabulary.
Speaker 3:Parents are very mocked in English classes, so after school you have to go to English class.
Speaker 1:Excellent, and it's going to help you a lot because you'll be, you know, even in Israel you need a lot of English. Leah, that was a beautiful, beautiful answer. I cannot believe you're nine years old. Sounds like you're 19 when you talk like that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, also, actually we had such a nice with the Kibura and Haram and Uhot, so it's very packed, like it's very hard to find a kever unless you save and it costs a lot of money. Our parents found a kever. Basically it was like shaped in like a kind of like a triangular square, then it was like a square almost, and then the last one was a little shorter. It was like a bad son how do you say like bad right, a cool kid? So the kvarim at the beginning, like the first 10 were like still fit for an older man, and then after another three were fit for, for, like kids and teenagers, and then one is only fit for a baby. It was such a nest that we found that like well, slowly, like it was like almost like a cave it was made for surely like basically perfect.
Speaker 1:It's very hard for people who don't know this. It's very hard to find a burial place in a cemetery like haram nukhot. It's like a very special. There's very, very special people that were buried there before, and even at whatever.
Speaker 2:And it's close.
Speaker 1:How often do you visit his cover?
Speaker 3:Once a year, usually every year, but our mother likes to go a lot.
Speaker 4:One time from my school. We have a very nice view from my school and we always see the avenue. So every time I go out for recess I was like looking, I don't know why. And one time there was a fire and I got really nervous. I was panicking. There's like in haramanujos you saw, no, not in. Like there's a forest nearby, nearby, nearby, and there was a fire. I got really nervous when I was in there. It was panicking and I was.
Speaker 1:I don't know I, yeah, that is scary, but in the end you found out that it didn't affect him.
Speaker 4:Yeah, it got really close. It was like a tree.
Speaker 1:Next, to it. So when you look out at the cemetery it makes you think about Shmuley.
Speaker 4:Like when you're looking at Shmuley, yeah, we have a very nice view and when you look first at the view you basically see first at Har Manuch, it's like straight, it's the right view, so it's like right in front.
Speaker 1:Wow, that's magnificent. The views in Yerushalayim are unmatched. They're really, really special, because you're not just looking at something pretty and beautiful, you're looking at something also meaningful. It's really. You're living in the footsteps of. Avraham, yitzchak and Yaakov. It's not normal.
Speaker 4:I always went down to the principal I don't know why to tell her.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but I'm happy that you have someone that you feel comfortable sharing your worries with in school.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I have a very good friend, Even her mother, and the day she the Yortze, she came to the Yortze.
Speaker 1:She's a very good friend. She understands what you need. Yeah, that's beautiful. Well, moshe, nachi, aaron and Leah, you guys are really an incredible bunch, an incredible family, and I hope one day I can meet the rest of your siblings. And you're doing such an important thing, first of all for your own family, that you continue to remember Shmueli.
Speaker 1:Talk about Shmueli, the cuteness that he had, share pictures of him with your siblings, especially for your younger three brothers, so that they can grow up learning about him and knowing about him, so that he's always part of your family and so that they actually are familiar with him. Mirtz Hashem when you know there is the Chias, hamisim HaMashiach, they'll just gather him right in and it's like their long lost brother. And thank you for sharing with me and with all of the people, whoever gets to listen to this, to give us some of your strong amuna, some of your beautiful words of wisdom, and you're really an amazing family, I can tell I'm very thankful to have you here. So thank you, thank you. We should hear only basuros tovos. These nine days should be like we started off saying an opportunity for all of us to really connect with what we lost, with what we could still have. If only we just really focus on it and continue doing all the good things that we do have a great day or night. Bye, bye, bye, bye, bye.
Speaker 1:Ever since I conducted this interview with the Berman kids, I cannot stop thinking about how special they are and how many amazing points they made that are affecting me as an adult, and I think about them so often throughout the day, and I really hope that you had something to gain from it as well. Maybe you'll listen to it again and you'll gain something different next time. And if you were inspired from this episode, share it with a friend, get someone involved to learn from these kids and to join us in the mission of yearning for the geula together. And so, before we wrap up the show, I'm going to play a bit of one of those songs that everybody loves so much and sing along. If you're listening to Geula Shalema, the acapella version from Leif Tahar and Mordecai Shapiro, I feel like it's a perfect thing to play after an episode like this.
Speaker 4:Kirula shilei maa Kirula kirula.
Speaker 2:Kirula l'man. Shimei haa Ki U Loh le man. Semejoh Ki U Loh she laymore.
Speaker 4:Ki U Loh she laymore.
Speaker 1:Okay, everybody, you got an episode for the nine days and now you can get ready to watch Rebuild the quest to bring Moshiach available to everyone at ikfilmorg. Ikfilmorg. Go to the website today. Make sure it's on your Tisha B'Av to-do list for this year and then, like I said in the beginning, make sure to let me know what you think of it. Maybe I'll even share some of the feedback on the next episode of the podcast or somewhere maybe on the Tehillim Army, If there's anything really meaningful that comes in, something that you gained from it, something that it's inspiring you to do.
Speaker 2:To take action.
Speaker 1:That is going to make a difference in your personal life and in the future of the Jewish nation. Wishing everybody a meaningful nine days, a meaningful Tisha B'Av, and I cannot wait to see you and together greet Mashiach. And don't forget to check out the Chaiathon website, chaiathonorg and create your team page today. See you next time. On Incredible Kids.
Speaker 4:Are you an Incredible Kid? Send your story to ikidspodcast at gmailcom. Subscribe today to the Incredible KidsPodcast at gmailcom. Subscribe today to the Incredible.
Speaker 1:Kids Podcast. Thanks for listening and remember you are all Incredible Kids.
