References

I would like to thank you so much for all your help. When it comes to purchasing a kever in Yerushalayim or Bet Shemesh, both for foreigners and Israeli citizens, it requires honest, informed and patient guidance.

Rabbi Fletcher, you were repeatedly available and were responsive to all my inquiries and phone calls with the additional benefit of being able to converse in English. It was a time and energy-consuming undertaking. Yet you made me extremely comfortable as you answered my questions and provided all the varied information I needed in English.

On behalf of myself and family we are grateful to you for your continuous, dedicated support throughout this process. We want to express our wholehearted gratitude to you.

B’vracha,

R.M.
Jerusalem

We are now back in England and want to thank you from the
bottom of our hearts for the wonderful, dignified stonesetting
that you helped us organise and conducted for us. May we share
in each other’s simchas from now on.

Yours Sincerely,

(Mrs) S.M.(London)

You were a great support to me and no words can come close to
describing my gratitude to you. You gave me much more than just
organising the funeral.

Thank you again

Elzbieta Maddock and family, Norfolk, Virginia, USA

On behalf of my family, I would just like to say that my father’s
funeral went as well as anyone could expect.

My mother had been worrying for months about how the logistics
of an overseas funeral would work. In the event, everything went
very smoothly and with no problems at all.

Eretz Hachaim is set in beautiful and peaceful surroundings.

The ceremony was carried out with dignity and respect, making
a difficult day that little bit easier.

Thank you again for all your help,

Igor Shersher
New York

I am writing this letter because I wanted to express my gratitude
to you for your guidance in a very sensitive and delicate matter.

My father, zichrono le’brachah, who passed away this past spring,
had been sick for the past three years with kidney failure. During
those years, we had many near misses. Yet it wasn’t until I attended
your talk at Har Menuchos, and in our subsequent private consultation,
that I understood that I should take advantage of this time to discuss
with my father his wishes, and to plan accordingly.

I was surprised to learn that my father had a very clear idea
of what he wanted. He asked us to purchase a plot adjacent to his
parents and grandparents. Had I not spoken with him directly, I
would not have realized that this location would be his first choice,
and therefore I would not have been able to fill his request.

I understand that there are financial advantages to taking care
of these matters well in advance, as we did. Yet for me, any financial
consideration pales in comparison to the emotional benefits of having
everything arranged in advance.

The experience of being an onain – a mourner before the burial
– was one of the most harrowing and unsettling experiences of my
life. There is simply no way to describe the turmoil and confusion
one is suddenly plunged into when the time comes.

In a family such as ours, where arrangements had to be made immediately
for both interstate and international travel, the travel arrangements
alone can be overwhelming. There were so many people to notify with
details of the funeral.

Yet there was tremendous comfort in knowing that my father was
taken care of, and would be taken care of in the most mechubad and
kosher way possible.

I have no doubt that as a result of your guidance, much conflict,
tension, and strife was avoided in my family among the mourners.

The night before my father passed away, I spoke with my Rav on
the phone. “Tzippora”, he told me, “it is almost
time. It is time to start learning the halochos of aveilus. People
think it’s morbid. It’s not morbid. It is for the sake of your father’s
honor.”

I believe his advice applies not only to the learning of halochah,
but also to the logistical instruction you gave me to choose and
purchase a plot. As a result of our following your advice, no decision
that concerned my father’s eternal welfare was made in last minute
haste.

Yours In Gratitude,