She continued: “My husband was zocheh to see the marriage of our daughter and then the birth of our granddaughter several months ago, but we will miss him at the birth of our newest expected grandchild.”
As I looked around the Goldberg home I saw adult children walking about. None of them exhibited any traces of self-pity or despair. Tears welled in Briana’s eyes when she spoke about R’ Avraham, but her grace and nobility were evident throughout my visit.
Mrs. Goldberg told me she received an extraordinary letter from the vice-chancellor of the University of Sheffield, Professor Sir Keith Burnett, who wrote of her husband’s time as a student there. Prime Minister Netanyahu sent a letter of condolence through one of his aides. And the Goldberg family was pleasantly surprised when the U.S. Ambassador to Israel and a personal emissary from Prime Minister David Cameron of England paid shiva visits to their home.
My impression of Briana Goldberg was that this is a woman who has complete faith in Hashem, and that the unfathomable mysteries of His ways would never shake her emunah. She thanked Hashem repeatedly for the wonderful life she had with her beloved husband and refused to question the why or the wherefore of the tragedy that took him from her.
I left her and her family with the fervent prayer that HaMakom yinachem eschem b’soch sha’ar aveilei Tzion v’Yerushalayim.
