The Valley Torah Scroll

From March 22 to April 7, 2022, fourteen innocent civilians were murdered. Twenty-eight parents will live the rest of their lives without ever hugging their child again. Fifteen children will grow up without their biological parent. Fifty-six grandparents won’t see their grandchild sitting at the dinner table on holiday nights again. Three wives and two husbands will never get to embrace their spouse again.

There was a terrorist attack again. And again. And again. 

On Thursday night, a gunman fatally shot three Israelis and injured at least 15 others at a popular bar in central Tel Aviv. Two days earlier, on March 28, two police officers were shot to death and four others were wounded in an attack in central Israel. Then, a week prior, four people were killed in a stabbing attack in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba.

In the span of 17 days, fourteen individuals were murdered, nineteen individuals were wounded, and hundreds–if not thousands– more were left emotionally traumatized. 

Israeli, U.S., and European leaders condemned the killings and pointed to their respective timings. The attacks came on the eve of, and during, a special meeting between the foreign ministers of four Arab nations and the United States in the Israeli Negev.

As the Scroll looked to cover the recent attacks, a movement founded by Tom and Caren Teves, parents of a child who died at the hands of a mass shooting in the U.S., came to mind. The devastated parents founded the No Notoriety movement with the mission of reducing public memory of the names of assailants and, alternatively, celebrating the memory of victims. The motive behind their project is to prevent future terror attacks by removing any assailant glorification. Following their movement, the Scroll, too, will not mention the names of the attackers. Instead, we will celebrate the lives of the victims. 

These are the victims. May their memories be a blessing.

• Barak Lufan, a 35-year-old father of three, passed away following injuries sustained from the Tel Aviv terror attack. Lufan was a resident of the central city of Givat Shmuel and grew up in Kibbutz Ginosar in northern Israel. He was a coach on Israel’s Paralympic team and the head coach of the Israeli national kayak team.

• Tomer Morad and Eytam Magini, both 27, were two close friends that were shot and killed during the Tel Aviv terror attack. Their friend, Alon Grossman, eulogized the pair and noted the deep friendship and bond the two had. “Tomer was a nail, the person who holds everyone together,” he told the Times of Israel. “All the friends were always around him. He was the most prominent.” Grossman said that Tomer, who was in a relationship, had just finished his college degree and was preparing to find a job. “He was a loved, happy person,” he said. “Loves to hang out, cook. Eytam and Tomer sat together in that cursed pub and waited for friends. Eytam, like Tomer, was at the center of the bunch. They both held the gang together and they were good friends.”

• Rabbi Avishai Yehezkel, a 29-year-old teacher, was murdered in the deadly shooting terror attack in Bnei Barak, Israel. Rabbi Yehezkel and his two-year-old son were walking near their home when the terrorist ran up to them and opened fire. The young Rabbi was shot dead as he protected his toddler son. His wife is currently pregnant with another child. At his funeral, Rabbi Yehezkel’s brother eulogized: “You called to tell me to stay at home because you were hearing gunshots. You feared for my safety but as you were protecting your son, you were shot multiple times. You showed true Jewish bravery and died a martyr’s death.” Rabbi Yehezkel leaves behind a pregnant wife and a 2-year-old child.

• Amir Khury, a 32-year-old Christian Arab from Nof Hagalil, is the heroic Israeli police officer who disarmed the terrorist and was killed in the resulting shootout in Bnei Barak, Israel. Khoury served on the Bnei Brak police station’s motorcyclist responders team. Born to a family of cops — his father Jeries served for 32 years in the police — Khoury joined the police at the age of 20 after leaving dental school. On Tuesday night, Khoury was shot and killed when he arrived on the scene of a terror attack in Bnei Brak. He and another police officer directly engaged the Bnei Brak terrorist, shooting him dead and preventing him from continuing his shooting spree through the Tel Aviv suburb, but Khoury sustained fatal injuries from the firefight.

• Yazan Falach and Shirel Abukarat, both 19-year-old border police soldiers, were murdered during the terror attack in Hadera, Israel on March 27. Falah, a resident of the Druze village of Kisra-Sumei in the Galilee, joined the Border Police a year ago and is survived by his parents and a brother and sister, police said. Aboukrat, a resident of Netanya whose family immigrated from France, joined the force six months ago and is survived by her parents and a brother. According to the Ynet news site, Aboukrat’s mother told friends that she had moved the family from France because she wanted them to live in safety. “We fled France to have security and here she died, in our country. It does not make sense. I wanted to give them a good life and security,” she reportedly told friends. 

• Rabbi Moshe Kravitsky, a well-liked member of the Chabad movement, was murdered during the terror attack near a shopping center in Beersheba, Israel. Rabbi Kravitsky was praised for his dedication to serving the community. Rabbi Zalman Gorelik, the senior Chabad rabbi in Beersheba, described Kravitzky as a kind person devoted to his community, saying he was “a loyal soldier in the army” of Chabad in the city, with “a mission to help every Jew” he possibly could. Rabbi Kravitsky is survived by his wife and four children.

• Doris Yahavas, a 49-year-old daughter, wife, mother, and aunt, was killed in the terror attack in Beersheba, Israel. “Doris, my dear wife, mother of my children, who raised them with me, we ask you for forgiveness, we will never forget you all of our lives,” Yahbas’s husband Yossi said at her funeral. “You were the mainstay and the central link of the whole family,” he said. The terrorist “cut you away from us. You will always be with us, in our hearts and souls. I promise to look after the children as you looked after them.” 

• Laura Yitzhak, a 43-year-old mother, sister, and friend, was murdered during the terror attack in Beersheba, Israel. At Laura Yitzhak’s funeral, husband Tal said: “I fell in love with you at first sight when we served together in the army.” The attacker, he said, “decided to kill in cold blood for no reason, because she was Jewish.” “What will I do now?” Tal said. “You are the one who takes care of me, the girls, our home.” One of Yitzhak’s three daughters, Efrat, eulogized her, saying: “Mom, I can’t take it in that you’re not here. I thank you for how you taught me. I will not forget you, I promise to look after the children. You are a hero.” Another of her daughters, Noa, added: “I am writing you a letter with tears. I will not forget this day that you passed on. Never forget me.”

• Menachem Yehezkal, a 67-year-old Israeli senior citizen, was also killed as a result of the terror attack in Beersheba, Israel. Speaking to Army Radio, Menachem’s older brother Yifrach described Menachem as “modest and shy” and as “an observant Jew” who “studied the Torah with his friends every morning.” Yehezkel’s nephew Nati Cohen told the Walla news site that his uncle was “a quiet man who loved to hike,” and described his death as “a hard blow, a terrible tragedy.” Menachem Yehezkel leaves behind four siblings.

Barak, Tomer, Eytam, Avishai, Amir, Shirel, Yazan, Moshe, Doris, Laura, Menachem, and the others that were unidentified, we will not forget you. Your memories will be a blessing, and your passings will help ground us morally, spiritually, and emotionally. 

Esa Einai, El He’arim, El He’arim… Mei’ayin Yavo Ezri, Ezri Me’im Hashem… We call to you, we pray out loud in a strong voice… Please Hashem- Bring Back our Boys.

Bring Back Our Boys— Shmueli