Monthly Archives: July 2008

A Heartfelt Account from Udi's (z"l) funeral

Israel

Through a list-serve I receive I got the following note from an attendeed of Ehud (Udi) Goldwasser’s (z”l) funeral.  I found the words so moving that I wanted to share it with you even though the post is a bit dated. (By the way, the person from whom I shared it said “please share.”)

From: Lisa Preiss
Sent: Friday, July 18th, 8:35 am
Subject:  Goldwasser funeral

Yesterday I drove up the western coast of Israel to  Nahariyah, just below the Lebanese border, in order to attend the somber funeral  of Ehud Goldwasser. Just 24 hours earlier his fate was revealed to his family,  all Israel and the world in front of television cameras: in a travesty of a  spectacle a Hezbollah spokesman, acting like an amateur magician, pointed the  cameras to a darkened car declaring in Arabic “and now we will learn the fate of  the two soldiers!” His people fumbled about as they removed two black coffins  from the car, proving to all of us at that very moment that Ehud and Eldad were not alive. A cry went out in homes around the country as we thought of the Goldwassers and Regevs getting this final heartbreaking news in such an inhumane  manner.

The sight of the parents, Micki and Shlomo Goldwasser,  their two boys and the majestic widow, Karnit, following Ehud’s coffin, arm in  arm, as they walked towards the cemetery on the beach will be etched in my mind  forever. The irony of the burial spot was lost on no one: 29 years ago on this  same beach, Samir Kuntar killed 4 Israelis, including 4 year-old Einat Haran  after she witnessed her father being shot. Her mother, Smadar, was with us at  Ehud’s funeral. She has been a stalwart supporter of the families of the  kidnapped soldiers, determined that her pain should not keep them from being  reunited with their loved ones. Samir Kuntar was one of the five live prisoners  exchanged for Ehud and Eldad.

Thousands stood together overlooking the  sea as Ehud was buried to words of love and longing. I have met the Goldwassers on numerous occasions over the past two years, accompanying Angelinos on our Federation’s missions who wanted to meet and support the families in their  struggle. They are strong and upstanding people. The LA Federation, along with  other federations, financially supported the families of the kidnapped soldiers  over the past two years so that they could travel wherever they needed and bring  attention to their plight. We produced dog-tags of the soldiers as part of the  LA-wide campaign we led. When a group of our Geller Fellows presented Karnit  Goldwasser with a sample of the tags, she replied without missing a beat, “I  will give these to Ehud when I see him.”

In another such meeting I  learned from Micki that when Ehud was born she stopped working in order to take  him daily to this same beach until he began nursery school at the age of  three.  Despite the stifling heat, the crowd remained quiet and respectful  throughout the funeral.

In Beirut an entirely different event was  unfolding: now a pawn of the Hezbollah and stuffed into one of their uniforms,  Samir Kuntar broke through cardboard jail bars in front of tens of thousands of  cheering Lebanese. It seemed that the remains of 199 Lebanese returned that  morning were given little thought or limelight.

Much was made of the  difference in the character of the events occurring in Israel and Lebanon  yesterday. I remember what Shlomo Goldwasser said on his way to be reunited with  his son’s remains just the day before: that he felt sad for the Lebanese who  were celebrating the return of a child-murderer.

Yesterday I was proud to  belong to the nation that was mourning its dead, its sons returned to its  borders the nation which lives by the words of Psalm 34: “Mi ha’ish  hahefetz chaim, Bakesh shalom v’rodfehu”

I was proud to belong to the  nation that holds life most precious, along with the quest for peace.

Lisa Preiss-Fried
Assistant Director
LA Jewish Federation Israel Office Jerusalem

Sharing a Post about King David Street and Tractor Terror #2

Israel, Judaism,

King David Street is a familiar location in Jerusalem. Many people have lodged, studied, shoped and lived along this famous street once on the boarder between Israel and Jordan.

This past Thursday Rabbi Michael Marmur reflected on the street, its visitors and its recent terror attack. He wrote a post for the Jerusalem Post Blog.  His words resonated with me for many reasons, and so I want to link it here for you. Read his entire post.

Another Terrorist Attack by Tractor

Judaism

Another East Jerusalem resident used a tractor as a terroristic weapon today in Jerusalem. Once again the attack was near the center of the city, this time focusing on the area near the King David Hotel where Barack Obama will be later today. I still don’t understand the desire to solve a problem by trying to kill people. I don’t think I will ever understand it, for such a perspective is not part of who I am.

I only have a few minutes as I post this, so I am keeping it short. Here are some links:

Ha’aretz story on the attack, Jerusalem Post on the attack, reactions of Obama and Abu Mazzen to the attack (also Ha’aretz),

More on the loss of Eldad & Udi

Israel, ,

Today the Jewish world continued to mourn the deaths of Eldad and Udi.  I hope that more than the Jewish world care and are thinking of them.

This is one of the days when I accutely feel far away from Israel.  I wish my aliyah was already complete and I could have been there today.  Reading accounts of the funerals helps, yet doing so increases my saddness.

Some links:

– Ha’aretz on the funerals including some quotes from the eulogies and families

– JPost on the funerals

– JPost story, including a heartbreaking story about how Udi was nearly released from his miluyim (reserve duty).

Heartbroken

Israel, Terrorism, , ,

Udi & Eldad are dead.  My heart breaks.  I can’t get Karnit Goldwasser (Udi’s [z”l] wife) out of my mind.  It seems like yesterday that she asked me and a room full of people to raise awareness, write letters and pray for her husband, for Eldad and for Gilad along with all of Israel’s kidnapped soldiers. Since the day that I met Karnit I wore a dogtag with the names of the 3 missing soldiers on it.  I rarely took it off.  She asked us to wear it until her husband came home.  When I woke up yesterday morning, the chain had broken.  How symbolic.

[A few links about the return of their bodies: Ha’aretz,  JPost story with reactions from the families, blogger Aussie Dave]

Update: I’ve been listening to Galgalatz all day today (thank you Israel Radio Toolbar!) with the sad songs resonating through me, pulling at my heart strings and raising tears.

More blogs (with varying viewpoints) on this sad sad day:

Gila’s Big Adventure Treppenwitz, Expat Egghead,  Not a Fish, Simply Jews, Aliyah! Step-by-Step: Making a Life in Israel,

Another Israeli Hero

Israel, Social Justice/Tezedek, ,

Here is another bit of good news about Israel on a difficult day.  An Israeli medic travelling in  Morocco saved the life of a Moroccan girl injured in a jeep accident.

An excerpt from the story:

“He found a pair of jeeps, one upright and the second crumpled off the side of a nearly indiscernible path. Huddled in the minimal shade provided by the mangled jeep were three young children. One of the children’s legs was at an awkward angle, and her clothing was soaked with blood.

The Israeli medic quickly diagnosed an open fracture at the femur complicated by a rupture of the femoral artery. He staunched the bleeding, stabilized the fracture and, with the young girl not yet out of danger, advised the frantic father on how to maintain pressure on the artery and avoid moving the leg for the four-hour ride to the nearest hospital.”

Find out what happened to the girl when you read the full story by the Jerusalem Post.

Two Heroes Stop the Bulldozer in Today's Terror Attack

Israel, Terrorism, , ,

A Golani Brigade off-duty soldier was one of the heroes who jumped onto the bulldozer to try to stop today’s attack in Jerusalem.

Here are the details of the actions of the Golani soldier and an off-duty police officer according to Connections Israel. (Connections Israel sends emails with the day’s news from Israel.  To subscribe try this link.)

“BROTHERS-IN-LAW ARE HEROES

IDF Golani Brigade soldier Private Moshe Plasser is the soldier in the blue tee shirt seen on a BBC video around the world. He eliminated the threat by climbing into the driver’s cabin of the bulldozer, shooting the terrorist in the head. Yassam police commando Eli Mizrachi “verified the kill” by firing addition shots at the terrorist at point blank range. Glaser just finished basic training for the elite Egoz reconnaissance unit within Golani three days earlier.

Plasser explained that he was on his motor scooter and saw the bulldozer flip the bus, immediately realizing it was a terror attack.

“I dumped my scooter and began running to the scene, looking for someone with a weapon. Then I saw Oren Ben-Shimon, who had a handgun, and together we tried at least to hit his legs to remove them from the gas pedal.

“He shouted ‘Ala Akhbar’ and then, I took the weapon and fired three shots at him, followed by the policeman verifying the kill.”

Plasser is a brother-in-law of Captain David Shapiro, the off-duty IDF officer who eliminated the terrorist in the Merkaz HaRav Yeshiva attack.

Plasser stated “I did what was expected of me, nothing more”.”

A New Kind of Terrorist Attack in Israel

Israel, Terrorism,

Terror has again struck central Jerusalem. This time it appears that a terrorist used (it is still unknown if the terrorist stole the tractor or worked on a construction site or how he got it) a buldozer as his terrorist weapon.  As the story is coming out now (it is only an hour or so since it happened) he plowed the buldozer into the back of an Israeli bus and other vehicles on Jaffa Road in Jerusalem.

Since I have been writing this post, the death toll from this terrorist attack has gone from 1 to 2 to 3 to 4 (update) with some news agencies reporting 3.  At least 66 are injured.

News stories:

JPost (English), Haaretz (English), and Walla (Hebrew), Pictures from the JPost, Ma’ariv story with emergency contact numbers (Hebrew),

More later. May G-d be with those injured, those murdered, all the families and the first responders.

Update: According to the Jerusalem Post, the terrorist in the bulldozer was armed and shot one of the police who trying to stop him. The terroist was killed. The policeman was only lightly injured. The terrorist was apparently from East Jerusalem and carried an Israeli identity card.

They think that the bulldozer was from the rail construction project in Jerusalem.