Shimon Weisz, z”l, Niftar in Tragic Accident

Heartbreak and mourning struck early Monday morning with the petirah of Shimon Weisz z”l, a four-year-old boy from Boro Park who passed away after a tragic accident, R”l, Sunday evening at the KMS bungalow colony in Swan Lake, New York.

“Everyone is speechless. What can you say after such a tragedy?” a family friend told Hamodia. “They [the parents] are people who care about everyone and think about other people’s problems. Now their pain is with all of us.”

A lifeguard, who was quickly joined by Hatzolah volunteers, performed CPR on the child immediately after he was discovered in the bungalow colony’s swimming pool. He was briefly brought to Catskill Regional Medical Center in Harris before being airlifted to Westchester Medical Center, where he was niftar at around 6:30 the next morning.

On Monday afternoon, hundreds of brokenhearted mourners gathered at the Chernobyl beis medrash in Boro Park to bid a tearful farewell to Shimon.

Harav Efraim Rosen, Dayan, Beis Din Tartikov, in his hesped, quoted the statement of Chazal that the death of tzaddikim is likened to the burning of the Beis Hamikdash.

“What greater misas tzaddikim is there than to lose a child who never tasted taam chet [taste of sin]?” he said emotionally.

He implored the broken crowd to strengthen themselves in limud haTorah with daily sedarim, tznius, and by keeping inappropriate reading material out of Jewish homes.

The Ropschitzer Rebbe of Boro Park, shlita, was also maspid; he focused on facing the calamity with emunah.

Reb Dovid Schwartz, a brother-in-law of the niftar, said that young Shimon had been named in honor of Rabi Shimon Bar Yochai. He mentioned the statement that one can rely on Rabi Shimon, b”shas had’chak [in times of difficulty], asking that the Tanna’s merits should help the family through their time of pain.

The father, Reb Aviezer Weisz, spoke briefly about accepting the bitter decree from Shamayim with emunah, and recalled memories of taking his young son with him to shul, and of his upsherin in Meron, only a little over a year ago. He said, “All that Hashem does is for the good,” and asked that the family should have the strength to withstand the terrible loss.

The levayah continued to Kiryas Joel for kevurah.

Yehi zichro baruch.