As many of you know, recently, a beautiful 2 year old girl, Ayelet Yakira Galena z"l, passed away after a year of fighting for her life against a rare bone-marrow disease. Although Ayelet showed hope and strength for all of her battle, a two year old could fight for so long. Ayelet was loved and adored by her incredibly strong parents, loving extended family, who I am privileged to be close friends with, and supported by thousands.
Ayelet became, as people like to say, somewhat of an internet phenomenon. Her Facebook page has over 5,000 likes, and story was tweeted over and over again by influential celebrities and strangers alike, coming together to support the cause. Ayelet's extended network set up bone-marrow drives through Gift of Life, and through the search for a match for Ayelet, 21 people found their matches as well. The 21st was on the day of Ayelet's funeral. This is power. This is social media, this is 2012. This is organizing. This is how you unite people in from all over the world in support of a cause. And Ayelet, with the help of her fearless parents, was able to do that.
The message of Ayelet, as her mother so eloquently and tastefully described on the day of her funeral, is strength. At just two years old, Ayelet has saved 21 lives, and will continue to do so even now that she is gone. The ability to take a desperate and dire situation and turn it into a life-saving movement is the power that each of us hold in our hands today. The power to change the world is at our fingertips, on Facebook or Twitter, or email or phone calls. What's important to you? What inspires you? What impassions you? Never think that what you have to say doesn't matter, or resign to giving up fighting for what you believe in. Ayelet never gave up, how can you?
Ayelet became, as people like to say, somewhat of an internet phenomenon. Her Facebook page has over 5,000 likes, and story was tweeted over and over again by influential celebrities and strangers alike, coming together to support the cause. Ayelet's extended network set up bone-marrow drives through Gift of Life, and through the search for a match for Ayelet, 21 people found their matches as well. The 21st was on the day of Ayelet's funeral. This is power. This is social media, this is 2012. This is organizing. This is how you unite people in from all over the world in support of a cause. And Ayelet, with the help of her fearless parents, was able to do that.
The message of Ayelet, as her mother so eloquently and tastefully described on the day of her funeral, is strength. At just two years old, Ayelet has saved 21 lives, and will continue to do so even now that she is gone. The ability to take a desperate and dire situation and turn it into a life-saving movement is the power that each of us hold in our hands today. The power to change the world is at our fingertips, on Facebook or Twitter, or email or phone calls. What's important to you? What inspires you? What impassions you? Never think that what you have to say doesn't matter, or resign to giving up fighting for what you believe in. Ayelet never gave up, how can you?
Don't give up. G-d and His Torah are life- never stop fighting for life, no matter how difficult and dire it seems.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful post, Ely. It gave me chills and brought tears to my eyes. Thank you for inspiring me.
ReplyDelete