Eight days before my 12-year-old son Aryeh died from a rare form of brain cancer on March 23, 2023, he slipped into unconsciousness. The following afternoon, my husband and I had a long conversation about end-of-life steps with his dedicated pediatric oncologist at Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem. I almost slipped off my chair from exhaustion. Later, I climbed into bed with my son and napped with him for two hours.

To our immense surprise, Aryeh woke up that evening after almost 24 hours of unconsciousness. Maybe he was faintly aware of my presence by his side. He lived another week, and during those days he was his inimitable self, chatty and smiley, although he was very weak and sometimes in pain.

Our last Sabbath together in the hospital was almost peaceful. On Friday night,

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