Hillel Fuld Shares Thoughts on His Brother Ari’s Fifth Yahrzeit Hy”d

It’s been almost five years and I still don’t believe it. I’m not sure I’ll ever believe it.

As I put my 12 year old twins to bed last night, you could hear the sadness in their voices. They knew that they’re going to sleep and will wake up to a day of sadness in which their uncle will be spoken about and remembered.

I don’t think a 12 year old should know how to deal with their pain and sadness at losing an uncle they loved, but here we are and I needed to address it.

I said to Nadav, “Remember uncle Ari?”

“Of course.”

“What do you remember?”

“I remember him playing with us on the beach on family trips. I remember how fun he was. But I also remember he was always working and sometimes had to leave daily trips for work. Why was he always so busy?”

“Because Israel needed a defender all day every day and Ari was that, Israel’s defender on and offline. When he left the trips, it was either because he had to deal with some urgent matter online that needed his strength and courage or more often; he had to go to IDF bases to give out food and supplies to the soldiers. We needed him with the family but they needed him more.”

Silence from Nadav as he processed that that was Ari’s work, protecting Israel.

“Did he have another job too?”

I then explained to Nadav how, at one point, I told Ari that he should work in tech, make some good money, and do his “Israel stuff” on the side. He listened.

He joined a startup and made some money but then one day, Ari had finished a tractate of Talmud and he was reciting the traditional prayer as part of the ceremony when one finishes a tractate.

In that prayer, we proclaim how important Torah learning is to the Jewish people and how we run to learn Torah and not to the unimportant matters of this world. Ari broke down, started crying, and handed in his resignation. Ari knew he had a job in this world and tech wasn’t it.

Between his love and activism for Israel and his constant, and I mean constant Torah learning, Ari led a life dominated by God. He gave that to his amazing children, Yakir, Tamar, Naomi, and Natan.

I then asked my twins Nadav and Shai if they believe it, if they believe that Ari is truly gone, that he was taken from us. In unison, they both said no, they still can’t believe it.

I said “Me neither.”, I told them I love them, and then they drifted off to sleep.

We grew up in Queens NY, five brothers (no sisters), and two amazing parents.

50 years ago, when Ari was born, my parents, for no apparent reason, named their new son, Ari. Not Aryeh, but Ari. It wasn’t a very common name.

Many people asked my parents why they named him that. They simply liked the name. Little did they know that Ari was going to grow up and lead a life that fits perfectly with his name.

Ari was a warrior always. He was a highly trained karate expert who learned karate his whole life, had a fourth degree black belt, and taught hundreds of people the art of karate.

Ari came to Israel alone, before the rest of us. He volunteered for the IDF, climbed the ranks, served in reserves, and even after reaching the age of 40 and getting released from reserves, he ripped up the exemption letter and continued to serve his country.

Ari moved here and took this country by storm. One might say he conquered the land. Remember that, we’ll come back to it.
Ari had some big passions. Israel was at the top. All day, every day, he spent every last second defending Israel, spreading truth about Israel, debunking lies about Israel, and fighting the haters on and offline.

But it wasn’t only his days he spent defending Israel. He did it at night too. All night, every night. The man did not sleep. He couldn’t sleep. Who would defend Israel? That’s how Ari thought about his life mission.

The man did not sleep.

He was also deeply passionate about Judaism and specifically prayer. Ari would put himself in a deep meditative state when praying. It’s as if God was right there in front of him and they were having a conversation.

Out of all the prayers, Ari was most passionate about Shema, the prayer we recite three times a day. Why that prayer? Who knows, but Ari loved it.

Finally, he was deeply passionate about the Torah commandment to wear Tzitzit, strings on a four corner garment.

So let’s go over this. Ari was a hero who conquered the land, he didn’t sleep, he loved prayer, specifically the Shema, and he cared deeply about the commandment of Tzitzit.

Now sit down for this.

After Ari was murdered, my parents opened the Torah and looked for the word Ari.

It appears twice and brace yourself for goosebumps.

The first time the word Ari appears, the Torah says “They crouch, they lie down like a lion (Ari), Like the king of beasts; who dare rouse them? Blessed are they who bless you, Accursed they who curse you!”

That’s the verse. Rashi, the main commentator on the Torah defines the word Lion/Ari and his definition is strange to say the least.

“HE CROUCHED, HE LAY DOWN AS A LION – Understand this as the Targum does (“He will have rest, he will dwell in strength like a lion”), meaning, they will be settled in their land in strength and might.”

Wait, what? That’s how he defines a lion, an Ari? “They will be settled in their land in strength and might”?

Well, that is what an Ari does, and that’s what our Ari did. He settled the land in strength and might.

But wait, it gets even crazier.

The second time the Torah mentions the word Ari, it says, “Lo, a people that rises like a lion, Leaps up like the king of beasts, Rests not till it has feasted on prey…”

A lion doesn’t sleep until it consumes its prey. A lion doesn’t sleep. Sound familiar?

And here’s the kicker.

Rashi explains what the verse means and I quote, “When they rise from their sleep in the morning they show themselves strong as a lioness and as a lion to “snatch at” the Divine precepts (to perform them immediately) – to clothe themselves with the Tallith, to read the Shema and to lay Tephillin.”

Rashi chooses three commandments to list when describing the nature of people who act like a lion. What are the three? Talit (Tzitzit), Tefillin (prayer), snd the Shema.

My parents named him Ari because he would live up to his name with the things that guided his life.

Ari lived like a lion but that wasn’t enough for him. He also died like a lion.

It was a Sunday morning. He was shopping for his family. But an innocent Jew shopping for his family in his homeland is too much for our enemies to handle. So this 16 year old terrorist stabbed Ari in a main artery and killed him instantly. But a lion doesn’t go down so easily.

Ari chased down the terrorist, jumped over a wall, got down in shooting position, shot the terrorist, and then collapsed himself and left this world.

In his last breath, he took down that terrorist seconds before he was going to murder his next victim, Hilla, who had a falafel store right there and who had previously served this terrorist lunch, not knowing who he was and what was about to happen.

Right before this terrorist could murder Hilla too, Ari took him down and saved her life. Hilla has since become part of our family. You can see her below embracing and being embraced by Miriam, Ari’s heroic wife.

Ari received an award from the state of Israel. He was declared a national hero. My grandma, who you can see below with Ari, a woman who survived the death camps, would not know how to digest the fact that her grandson who she loved so much, would become a national hero of the state of Israel.

Ari lived like a lion and died like a lion. Ari was a true “Ari”.

My older brother left us with so many legacies but if I had to choose one, it would be one word that, in a normal world, should be so trivial, but in our world is not.

That word is “Truth”.

Ari had zero tolerance for lies. When everyone else was accepting a false narrative about Israel, Ari wouldn’t have it. He couldn’t take it. He fought the lies 24/7. Truth is what guided Ari in everything he did.

Since that tragic day, there have been children named after Ari, many children, Torah scrolls written in his memory, synagogues constructed in his name, and even places in Israel named after him.

Ari was a hero.

But Ari was also my goofy older brother. He was an uncle to so many nephews and nieces. He was the life of the party, of every party. He was a husband, a dad, a son, a Torah scholar, a hardcore Zionist, a teacher, a dedicated Jew, and the list just goes on and on.

Ari was larger than life.

It’s been almost five years but on the one hand, it feels like yesterday, and on the other hand, it feels like it’s fake, like it never happened.

We miss Ari every day, but on this day, we express that sadness, we remember Ari’s life, we celebrate the man, and we remember what he gave his life for, for us to live safely in our home.

Ari impacted millions of lives through his work and millions more through his legacy.

Ari was a giant of a man who taught us what one person can accomplish and that when something is so important, it’s worth fighting for.

Ari, you were a lion down here. Please be a lion for us up there. Please fight for us like you always did. Please ask The Big Boss to stop the suffering and if He says “No, not now.”, then don’t take no for an answer. Fight. Protect us. Just do your thing. You know your job and you know how to get it done!

Miss you, bro.