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by Harvey Tannenbaum
I made Aliyah in June
1994. I cried when I left family and friends in
Los Angeles. I
cried when I arrived with my family in Israel. I cried
when the doctor told me that it
'Was a Baby Girl' in July 1995 at Hadassah Hospital.
I cried when I was told that it 'Was a Baby Boy' in
March 1997 at Hadassah.
For the past 24 hours, the life in
Israel has been the worst 24 hours since our
Aliyah, 7years ago. Yes,we have reported and written
about the bombings, the bullets,
and the orphans. Yes, we have written about the
births, the happy times of a brit, a
bat/bar mitzvah/ and weddings. Today, I
must share with you the stories behind some of the 15
dead Jews from yesterday's restaurant
terrorist murders.
The young chatan, newly engaged, Mr.
Golobek from Karmiel, 26, was very active
with his father in the Meretz local chapter. He and
his family were to
meet the bride's family at a restaurant in Jerusalem.
He arrived early at the restaurant
with his fiancee to save a table so that the long
drive for his parents from Karmiel would
not be added to by a wait for space
in a busy restaurant in downtown Jerusalem. The list
for the wedding guests
to be invited were with his parents. The bride's parents
were delayed in traffic from their
apartment in Jerusalem. A bomb went off, the
groom is dead, the fiancee is injured. This morning
as the funeral procession began
in Karmiel for the dead chatan, the wedding list
according to the
grieving mother is now a levaya list. Her family spent
the night 'inviting' and 'announcing'
the funeral plans. The bride is in stable condition,
her beautiful face and figure filled with shrapnel and
nails. The bride's parents are
sitting in the house of shiva of the machatanim
they will never have.
The two best friends,Malka and Esther,15,were
to meet for a pizza after they
had spent the summer in their Ezra camp helping the
kids in the neighborhood. One
girl came from Ramot and one from Jerusalem in the
city.
Their busses were delayed due to a
suspicious object on the road. They called
each other on the cellular phone and changed their lunch
plans to 2:00PM at Sbarro. The
best friend, Esther, phoned her mother, a nurse at
Hadassah and said, "I won't be home
for dinner, I am with Malka in town." The
mother, the nurse finished her shift and returned home
with the radio news of a bomb
in a restaurant. She had just eaten there the night
before with Esther. They had come
from the cemetery as it was the yarhtzeit of
Esther's late father who died 11 years
ago, when Esther was only 4. They said
their personal kaddish, went out to eat on Wednesday
night at Sbarro and Esther loved
the food. Esther and Malka met at the restaurant. Today,
they were buried two hours apart at Har
Menuchot.
The middle sister promised her little
brothers all week that after Tisha Ba'av,
she would take them to the zoo for their birthday today,
August 10. Ms. Maoz called them
from her phone at 1 30yesterday and asked the little
siblings if they wanted 'some pizza'
which she would bring them home. The younger
5year old brother wanted pizza with mushroom and ice
cream. She explained that it was
too hot to bring ice cream which would melt. The
pizza was ordered and as she hung up
the phone on her younger siblings, the bomb
went off. Today due to the wild animals and bloodless
terrorists, the family
cannot go to the zoo. The little siblings cried as their
big brother who just went into
the army last month was saying some prayers around
what they thought was a 'sandbox'(the graveside) over
the sister who had
pizza to go and is now in heaven.
The family from Holland moved to Talmon
West. The Eema was a special ed teacher
working with hearing disabled children. The Abba was
a principal of the day school.
They wanted to get away from the bombings and drive
bys and attacks
in the Shomron so they promised their 5 youngest children
that they would spend two days
in Jerusalem. They found a pool that had separate
hours for the swimming. They checked in to a family
hotel. They went out to eat pizza
and lasagna. The oldest 3 children were at home in
Talmon listening to the mortars and watching
the rocks being thrown by the Arabs
nearby. Today, the Chief Rabbi of Israel presided over
5 funerals. Abba and Eema and
three children were buried side
by side,and the other two kids are recuperating in the
hospital. The oldest children were at
the cemetery saying five kaddishes five
times.
During the night I could not sleep.
My daughter was too close yesterday to
the action. I woke up at 4AM and found out that an only
child, Shoshana (Judy
Hayman) Greenbaum,31,pregnant, was a victim. Judy and
her parents, Dr. and Mrs. Allan
Hayman were members of the Yeshiva University of Los
Angeles community. They were active in
all aspects of this kehilla. Allan
was the gabbai at the Yeshiva of Los
Angeles minyan. When I was living in LA,
for some years I was a congregant at Yeshiva. I sat
at the next table over from the
gabbai, Allan. We watched our children grow together
and I knew that Allan and Shifra
were so proud of their continued growth in yiddishkiet
with their only child. I was back in LA in May of this
year.
I saw them and they told me that Judy
was married and living in the East Coast.
Their pride and their joy was now a Mrs. and she was
coming to Israel to participate
in a teacher's program of YU. Judy
(Shoshana) was supposed to go back next week. She died
yesterday.
I just came back
with a close friend, Benny Adler of LA,from Har Hamenuchot.
We parked my car and watched the funeral
processions. One family was burying
Malka, another family had just buried Esther. The family
from Holland of 5 burials were
leaving from another mountain route. People were
coming and going in all directions. I
stood outside the chapel with the other
Kohanim listening to the euologies of Judy's husband,
Mayor Olmert, Ambassador Dan Kurtzer
of the USA,a Rosh Yeshiva. The room was packed.
Outside the chapel, another family was
waiting with its body. As the screams
and cries and tears reverberated around the pathways
and walkways, I watched
behind my tear soaked sunglasses the teenage classmates
of Malka, Esther, Ms. Maoz, and
the Holland. Here were the consuls of Holland,
Australia(for Malka), USA, and other
countries bringing wreaths of flowers.
The press was everywhere. Someone shouted
at the US Ambassador, an Orthodox
Jew himself, during his eulogy for Judy. It was 100
degrees outside. We had to get
moving. Shabbat was approaching and there were
still two more childrens' funerals.
I have said enough....My eyes are dry
and red. So are the other Los Angelenos
who came for Shoshana. Her parents are in LA. They have
been spared the site of their
only child laying in state as the chevra kadisha
prayed over her body.
I am trying to make Shabbat now.....I
don't know how....Too Many Funerals/Not
Enough Tears Left
Hamakom Yenachem,Hashem Yikam Damam
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