The wedding
The weddingYitzhak Melamed

Hila Badash, the sister-in-law of Rabbi Itamar Ben Gal who was murdered in the stabbing attack at the entrance to Ariel about a month ago, the sister of widow Miriam, got married Tuesday evening.

The wedding took place 29 days since the murder and a day before the "Shloshim" (marking the end of the traditional 30-day mourning period).

The father of the bride and of Miriam Ben Gal, Rabbi Shlomi Badash said during the wedding ceremony that the mixture of joy and sorrow was "impossible to describe".

"On the one hand, there is tremendous joy over this sweet, beautiful, righteous, and happy couple. On the other hand, to see Miriam and the children. It is a surreal feeling. Yet Itamar was here in spirit. It's difficult to describe someone who isn't physically present yet whose power is. You could feel him, his joy. It was clear that many had made a supreme effort to fill his place, to be happy and gladden the couple on this evening."

The Kfar Saba wedding was attended by Samaria Regional Council Rabbi Elyakim Levanon, Har Bracha Rabbi Eliezer Melamed, Ramat Gan Hesder Yeshiva Head Rabbi Yehia Shapira, Jerusalem Rabbi Aryeh Stern, Kedumim Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Yitzchak Ben Shachar, Shomron Regional Council head Yossi Dagan, Har Bracha Settlement Committee Chairman Yoni Yisraeli and others.

Rabbi Chaim Druckman offered blessings for the wedding and said: "We see before us the fulfillment of Jeremiah's prophecy that during moments of the Jewish People's most intense despair in face of the destruction, the day will yet come when the Land will be rebuilt. The clear sign of rebirth and renewal is: 'There shall yet be heard in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem the voice of joy and the voice of happiness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride.' It's exciting that we're privileged to see the people of Israel return home and rebuild their land. This is the greatest sign of G-d's love for His people."

After the murder, Itamar Ben-Gal's widow and family appealed to the Shomron Regional Council head to join them in demanding that the government approve constructing 800 units at once in Har Bracha as an answer to the murder and thereby turn it into a city. Since the murder, the community together with Dagan and the family have been leading the struggle for a "true Zionist response" to the murder.