I knew he would be a boy. In my ninth month of pregnancy my eight-year-old asked me: "Is it possible for Uncle Ariel's neshama (soul) to come back down and be in the baby that's inside you now...?"
Hashem sent us another precious neshama. It was obvious that we were going to name the baby after my brother Ariel ob"m. Rabbi Dov's Zaidy - Jack (Yakov) Muchnik was an incredible personality who lived a long and healthy life. The combination of those two names seemed perfect to us. Yakov Ariel.
When I hear my brother's name fill our home as we call, chant and sing to our new baby... I get shivers every time. I didn't quite imagine what it would be like to have a new "Ariel" back with us... It's heavy, pretty intense, but so very special. Like my father said at the Bris: "Our family is now back to the same amount of people we were eighteen months ago..."
My sweet baby, I hope you grow up to have the incredible qualities of your Great-Zaidy and Uncle. I can't wait for you to meet them both!
You are so very tiny... yet you have already brought us all great comfort.
I wrote a song for Yakov Ariel, a lullaby, to one of my brother's favorite tunes. Click here to hear Menucha (age six) sing it to the baby - she wanted to learn every word of it so she can sing it to him at night.