They Were High School Students!

Rosh Hodesh of the Thirteenth Month 5768

I already wrote about the terrorist attack on Merkaz HaRav. Now that I have seen the list of victims, I'm too upset to write much more about this, so I'm doing a hand off to Batya at "Shiloh Musings." Please click "Another Grave to be Filled." Then click her main page, and scroll down through her coverage.

Yonatan Eldar HY"D of Shilo, and only 16, a junior in high school, was one those martyrs killed.

Top row: Avraham David Moses, 16; Ro'i Roth, 18; Neria Cohen, 15; Yonatan Eldar, 16.

Bottom row: Yochai Lifshitz, 18; Segev Peniel Avihail, 15; Yehonadav Hirschfeld, 19; Doron Meherete, 26.

He lived next door to the Yerushalmi family, whose son Shmu'el Efraim HY"D survived the attack on another yeshiva high school, "Hitzim," six years ago, only to be killed himself a month later at the Givat Tzarfatit (French Hill) bombing, where I was the last one to see him.

I can't get Yonatan's face out of my mine: blond hair, glasses. He was only a student of mine for a short while, four years ago. He was only in the sixth grade, yet the principal and all of the teachers had to call upon him to install and operate software, or even fix their computers. He was that bright.

I just sat next to him in a tremp the other day. He was telling me that was studying at Yeshivah leTze'irim Yerushalayim [Yashla"tz], the Merkav HaRav associated High School, and most prestigious Religious Zionist yeshivah high school in the world.

I will miss you, Yonatan. May your blood be avenged!

When I go to visit your family, no doubt I will see more of my former students. It is a common custom for the martyr's classmates to sit with the family much of the time, and stay close by in the same town. They are after all like brothers.

Lately, I have bumped into many former students who are now serving in the Israeli Defense Forces [IDF]. I say to them "HaShem Yishmor Otcha" (May God watch over you).

From now on, I will have to remember to say this to every one of them I meet, even if he's only on his way to school.

I don't know what else to say.

From Israel National News, The Jewish martyrs are:

Doron Mehereta, 26, of Ashdod
Yonadav Haim Hirschfeld, 19, of Kochav HaShachar (a community in the Binyamin region of Samaria)
Ro'i Rote, 18, of Elkanah (a community in Samaria)
Yochai Lipshitz, 18, of the Old City of Jerusalem
Yonatan Yitzchak Eldar, 16, of Shilo (a community in Samaria)
Neriah Cohen, 15, of Jerusalem
Segev Pniel Avichayil, 15, of N'vei Daniel in Gush Etzion
Avraham David Moses, 16, of Efrat, Gush Etzion

Doron, Yonadav and Ro'i were students in Merkaz HaRav; the others were students in the LeTze'irim Yeshiva High School of Merkaz HaRav in the adjacent building.

Seven of the ten wounded students remain hospitalized. The public is asked to pray for the recovery of: Naftali ben [son of] Gila from Sderot, Yonatan ben Avital, Shimon ben Tirza, Nadav ben Hadas, Reuven ben Naomi and Elchanan ben Zehava.

Cross-posted at B'nai Elim.