On Thursday in Bat Ayin there was grieving, and there was rejoicing... both in the same day.
While residents sat mourning 16-year-old Shlomo Nativ, murdered by a terrorist who infiltrated the comunity earlier in the day, across the street a newlywed couple moved in to start a new life together.
Yehuda and Odaya Gordon were married the night before the murder, and one of Shlomo’s last acts of kindness was to clean their new mobile home prior to their moving in.
The Dean of the Bat Ayin Yeshiva, Rabbi Natan Greenberg, told the family of the newlyweds after the funeral that they must continue their rejoicing and hold the traditional post-wedding “Sheva Brachot” (seven blessings –ed.) feasts as planned, the same evening.
The rabbi explained that the “Sheva Brachot” celebration adds another brick [to the building of the Jewish People] – and that a new couple moving in is an answer to the terrorist attack.
“Sheva Brachot” feasts are held for a newly-married Jewish couple for seven days following the marriage ceremony, with the first meal being held immediately following the nuptials.