Yesterday, at the fresh grave of Rabbi Elimelech Shapira stood his wife Rivka, embracing her eight children: 17-year-old Reut; 15-year-old Ortal; Hadar, 13; Elyashiv, 11; Evyatar, 9; Hillel, 7; Zimrat, 5; and Hananel, 3. They stood and grieved for their father, who was killed by terrorists when he traveled at 3:30 a.m. from his home in the settlement of Peduel in Samaria to a Bible lecture in Bnei Brak.

Rabbi Elimelech Shapira, 43, studied in the hesder yeshiva [a program that combines yeshiva studies with army service] in Kiryat Shmona and studied afterward in a yeshiva in Bnei Brak. Eleven years ago, he moved to Peduel in western Samaria. There he founded the Eretz Tzvi pre-army academy and headed it ever since, along with Rabbi Meir Katz.

About 170 students attend the academy, which is meant to prepare young religious high-school graduates to serve in the army “with their bodies and souls,” through Jewish studies and physical training. Hundreds of young men who studied there serve in army combat units.

But Elimelech Shapira was not only known as a rabbi. No less was he known for his great love for music. He enchanted many with his flute. “He represented all that is good and beautiful in a human being, the opposite of what his murderers represent,” said Yona Goodman, a member of the settlement.

“Rabbi Shapira used to say that we must use our time for study,” they said on the settlement. Therefore, he used to leave Peduel early in the morning for Bnei Brak, to get in a Bible lesson in the yeshiva there, and get back by morning and give his usual lecture in academy in Peduel.

The head of the Settlers Council, Benzi Lieberman, who lives in Peduel, said that Rabbi Shapira was “an admired figure who aspired to excellence and loved the country.” Lieberman said that the murder would only strengthen the Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria and that Peduel and Alei Zahav, between which two settlements runs the road on which Rabbi Shapira was killed, would build two new neighborhoods next month.

Rabbi Shapira was buried last night. “Daddy, my beloved father, I love you,” eulogized his daughter Ortal, 15. “I see all the many people who came here, people Daddy taught all the time. My father is the Messiah; I want you to know that.”

Thousands of people accompanied Rabbi Shapira on his final journey, among them hundreds of soldiers and army officers, graduates of the pre-army academy he headed. At first, the people congregated at the academy building. Dov Shapira, head of the religious council, said: “You went up to heaven in a storm. You were murdered before studying Torah and after immersing in the mikve [ritual bath].” Meir Yehiel, his father, said: “My dear and holy son: the bullets of contemptible terrorists hit you. Not every day does the Heavenly Yeshiva merit to receive a special person like you.”

After the many eulogies, the funeral cortege set out in a long convoy to the Segula cemetery in Petah Tikva. Rivka, his wife, said over the open grave: “I don’t know whether to call you my beloved, my rabbi or my father. Today we return that with which we were entrusted. God gave, and God took away. Elimelech, I love you.”

This article ran in Maariv on July 26th, 2002

“Where will we sit shiva”?
“Where will we live?”
“Who will be our adoptive parents?”;

These difficult and heart-rending questions were asked yesterday by the nine surviving Dickstein children who lost their parents and their nine-year-old brother on Friday in the lethal terror attack in the southern Hebron hills.

Yaakov and Hannah Dickstein, both teachers, were the parents of ten children. They moved eight months ago from Jerusalem to the settlement Psagot as part of their desire to contribute to the Jewish settlement enterprise in the territories. On Friday they were making their way to visit their friends at the settlement Maon, traveling with six of their children.

An investigation of the incident suggests that a terror cell composed of what appears to have been four terrorists positioned itself on the side of the road that connects Pnei Hever to the settlements Maon and Carmel. The position the gunmen selected is about two kilometers south of Zif intersection and 500 meters from the village Yatta, to which the terrorists fled. Elazar Leibovich was killed in the first car to pass the gunmen. Leibovich, who was driving the car, sustained mortal injuries from the gunfire, but he succeeded in driving a little further. He died within a short period of time from his injuries.

Immediately afterwards, the Dicksteins came down the road. One of the terrorists opened fire on the car, and the car pulled to a stop. Another terrorist who was hiding on the other side of the road came out of his hiding place and drew near the car. “The terrorist came up to us, looked us in the eye, and began to shoot,” one of the Dickstein girls told the detectives. Mr. Dickstein tried to get out of the car, and was shot dead. Hannah Dickstein and the nine-year-old Shuva-ell were murdered by the terrorist in front of the five other children. Adiel, a baby, sustained light injuries and was treated on the spot, and one of the boys, who is 12-years-old, sustained injuries to his back and arm from shrapnel. He was hospitalized in Hadassah Ein Karem in light to moderate condition.

Rescue workers, IDF troops, and police troops under the command of Samaria and Judea District Commander Shahar Ayalon. The physical evidence at the scene indicates that the terrorists fired 20 bullets before fleeing.

Tanzim took responsibility yesterday for the terror attack. Security officials said that their intelligence indicates that the terrorists are hiding out either in Yatta or in one of the caves in the vicinity. Yesterday the IDF swept Yatta and discovered illegal guns, knives, a large amount of ammunition and a home-made bomb in the Palestinian police station in the town.

“Yaakov and Hannah were optimistic people, with a lot of joy of life and light in their eyes,” said yesterday Hannah Diamant, a family friend. “They built their house in Psagot with all their heart and all their soul and despite all the difficulties.”

Yaakov, who was a teacher in the Netiv Meir yeshiva, was on sabbatical this year which he used to establish a higher education institution in Jerusalem. Hannah taught computers at a girl’s ulpana in Pisgat Zeev and at the Evelina de Rothschild school in Jerusalem.

All of the surviving nine Dickstein children spent the weekend in the hospital along with their injured brother. All nine, including the two-year-old Adiel, know that Mommy, Daddy and Shuva-el will not be coming home.

This article ran in Maariv on July 28th, 2002

Three members of the Dickstein family who were killed in Friday’s terror attack in the Hebron hills were laid to rest yesterday. The funeral cortege of Yossi and Hani Dickstein and their son Shuva-el left the Merkaz Harav Yeshiva in Jerusalem for the Psagot cemetery.

“It was clear to the whole family that the funeral would start here, in the study hall where you acquired the spiritual foundations of our home and that it would end in Psagot,” said the oldest son, Zvi Yehuda, 22. “Only last week, Father looked at the home he had built in Psagot and said: We were like dreamers; we now have our portion [Biblical quotes]. You found your place in Psagot and it was clear to us that we would bury you here.”

The nine orphans walked behind the three bodies. Zvi Yehuda began his eulogy with a quote from the penitential prayers. “What words can describe the enormity of this catastrophe?” he asked. “How can we speak in the past tense about the people we loved best? Father, Mother, Shuva-el, suddenly everything is stopped in the middle. But, dear parents, we received a solid education, an education for ideals, and we will continue in your path.”

Zvi Yehuda said that he realized his parents had been killed when he saw their bodies that morning at the funeral, but he was having difficulty assimilating the loss. “What will be with us, the children? You wanted so much to see us married, and now, who will lead us to the marriage canopy? You won’t get to see your grandchildren. Father, Mother, in my name and in the name of all the children, I promise you that we will keep the family united.”

The nine orphans announced that they would continue to live in Psagot, in the home their parents built, where they moved from Jerusalem about seven months ago. “We have no idea how we will go on,” Zvi Yehuda said, “but we will go on. We will go on here, in Psagot, as you taught us.”

This piece also ran in Maariv on July 29th, 2002

Emmanuel Terror Attack Aftermath

Yehudit Weinberg: “My baby’s dead, but maybe he saved my life”
Yediot Ahronot (p. 9) by Rivka Freilich — “When we return home we’ll try to expand the family despite everything that happened,” said yesterday Yehudit Weinberg, 22, from her hospital bed in the ICU in the Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikva.

Yehudit, who was eight months pregnant, sustained very serious injuries on Tuesday in the terror attack outside Emmanuel. She was struck by a number of bullets in her legs and hips, and the fetus she was carrying was in danger. She was taken to the hospital and after a long and complicated C-section operation gave birth to a boy. The baby was in distress and was defined as being in critical condition. The doctors at the Schneider Children’s Hospital fought for hours to save the newly born infant’s life, but he succumbed yesterday before dawn.

“After the operation Yehudit wouldn’t stop asking what was with the baby,” Yehudit’s mother, Ahuva Kupilovich recounted yesterday. “We said, ‘not good,’ and that he was in critical condition, and I hoped she would stop asking. In the end she asked if the baby had died. We told it had. She averted her glance. The entire time she still had hope in her eyes that it would be possible to save him, but he was hurt too badly. Hope was ended, and Yehudit said, ‘maybe it will be better for him this way.'”

On Tuesday, immediately after the bus was struck by the initial explosion, Yehudit managed to call her parents and said: “I’m in a terror attack, call an ambulance.” She lay down on the floor of the bus, and then the terrorists’ bullets struck her. Her husband, Zvi Weinberg, said: “I spoke with Yehudit before she got on the bus, and she said that she was running a little late. When I heard there had been a terror attack I called ­ but she didn’t answer. It was hard. But her parents told me that they’d spoken with her and that she was alive, so I calmed down.” Yehudit recounted her experiences: “When I got on the bus I sat down in one seat, but I wasn’t comfortable so I moved. The woman who sat in that seat was killed. When the bullets were flying all around me I lay on the floor and I said the prayer ‘everything is done by His word,’ a prayer that is a blessing. That’s the only thing that passed through my mind, and I had a feeling that I would come out of it. My baby died, but who knows, maybe I was saved by him. During the terror attack I screamed for help because I was pregnant, and they really treated me first. Maybe that was his mission to this world.”

“Everything is still fresh and it’s hard talking about things,” said Zvi. “Just like every couple, we were eager for the baby, and that eagerness was taken away. But anything decreed in heaven is decreed for the best. Yehudit was struck by seven bullets and she survived by a miracle. We now need to regain our strength and to get back to normal life. To try and to be careful, but to continue living.” Yehudit and Zvi have a son, Shalom-Noah, who is 14 months old.

The baby that died yesterday was buried in a ceremony that was attended by Hevra Kadisha [burial society] representatives only. “According to Halacha, there’s no need to say kaddish,” explained Zvi. He said the burial was not complemented by a funeral, and no family members were to attend the ceremony.

Lived for 45 Minutes

Ma’ariv (p. 7) by Eli Berdenstein and Sharon Solomon — He was born in a terror attack — and murdered in a terror attack — without ever even being given a name. Yesterday he was buried in the plot for premature babies at the Segula cemetery in Petah Tikvah.

Yehudit Weinberg, 22, was in her eighth month of pregnancy. She was severely injured in her abdomen during the terror attack on Tuesday and began to lose blood. “I’m pregnant,” she cried to the medics, and they quickly brought her to the Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikvah. There, out of the horror, a son was born in a Caesarean operation. The doctors were forced to operate to try and save the fetus’s life.

The premature baby was taken in mortal condition to the Schneider Children’s Hospital. For 45 minutes the doctors worked to save him, but at 2:00 a.m., they gave up. “The mother lost a lot of blood and the baby suffered from a lack of oxygen,” the director of the premature babies unit, Prof. Leah Sirota, explained. “We couldn’t save him. He was a perfect baby, weighting two kilo and 330 gram. It is so frustrating to lose a baby who had a happy life in front of him. Before he even opened his eyes, he lost his life.”

“Every bullet has an address, and what had to happen happened,” said his mother Yehudit yesterday, still hospitalized in moderate condition, “everything is from the Holy One. I may have been saved because of the pregnancy, because I shouted that I was pregnant and they treated me first.” Yehudit, who has another son a year and two months old, said:

“Now I know that we will try and have more children.”

“I hoped that the baby would be saved” said the father, Zvi, “But God wanted otherwise.” Yehudit’s mother, Ahuva Kupilovich, related that she was the one who told her daughter of her baby’s death. “She seemed to have already understood this by herself, because she picked up that the situation was not good. I hoped that she would stop asking, but she didn’t. She asked if he had died. I said yes. She didn’t say anything, just bowed her head and kept her thoughts to herself.”

“Yehudit was waiting for the child like any mother. But we accept this fate. She was saved thanks to Torah and this makes it easier for Yehudit to accept this loss, the knowledge that nothing happens without a reason,” said the grandmother.

Where is Daddy?

Ma’ariv (p. 10) by Uri Arazi et al. — “Where is Daddy? Where is he?” asked Or Haim Shilon, two and a half, yesterday, over and over. He himself was lightly wounded in Tuesday’s inferno. His sister Sara, nine months old, was killed. His grandmother Zilpa was killed, his mother was wounded and phoned his father Gal to come and help them. The father, 32, arrived at a run, and was shot to death by the terrorists.

Or Haim was hospitalized in Meir Hospital in Kfar Saba, with his sister Galia Ester (Sara’s twin sister). The two were surrounded by love from relatives yesterday, who tried to hide their tears from them. At the same time, the mother, 29, who was moderately wounded by shrapnel all over her body, was taken into surgery at the Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tivka.

After she came out, the doctors told her that she had lost her baby girl, her husband and her mother. Ayelet pulled herself together and phoned her eldest son in the hospital. One relative related: “While talking to her a light came into his eyes. He calmed down and began to take care of his little sister. He gave her Bamba and shared a popsicle with her.” He told photographers standing nearby: “She likes that.”

Later on Chief Rabbi Yisrael Meir Law visited the children. “I’m scared,” Or Haim told him. “you’re a good boy, don’t be scared,” the rabbi replied.

At the same time the children’s grandfather, Moshe Mashiah Kashi, 72, of Givatayim, prepared for the funeral of his wife Zilpa. He told family and friends how he took Zilpa to the Bnei Brak bus station, where the 67-year-old woman got on the bus of death, along with her daughter and grandchildren. “She was always visiting the children. She was scared of nothing,” Mashiah said, who also related that five years ago malignant growths were found in Zilpa’s body, but that she had overcome the illness.

Hundreds attended the funeral in Yarkon cemetery. But her daughter Ayelet could not come, because of her injury. “Why have you left me,” Zilpa’s husband cried, holding on to her body, “why did you leave me?”

The funeral of Gal Shilon and of Sara Shilon will take place today. Yesterday Gal’s parents, Yaakov and Sylvia, cut short an organized tour of Russia and returned home. The father, Yaakov, is a registered nurse and responsible for the project of rehabilitating IDF injured; mother Sylvia has a beauty parlor in Ramat Ilan. Ten years ago they lost another son, Nimrod, when he was 17. A relative related that Sylvia did not want to go overseas and had a feeling that something bad would happen. Two weeks ago she told her daughter Ravital, that she dreamed that Gal was being shot and killed.

Gal served in the Air Force in an anti-aircraft unit, studied business administration and at the same time studied for a civilian pilot’s license while working for an airline in Canada. When he returned to Israel a few years ago, he began to come closer to religion, after an aerial exercise in which he was almost killed. Three years ago he met Ayelet through a match.

The two married, and a year ago moved to Emmanuel. His sister Ravital said yesterday: “I didn’t think my brother was killed in the terror attack since he wasn’t on the bus. I phoned him but he didn’t answer, so I phoned Ayelet’s cellphone. A Magen David Adom medic answered me and refused to give details, only asked me to come to the hospital, where I heard. Gal was dead.”