The victims of the Tuesday night terrorist attack near Hevron – Yitzchak Imas, his wife Talia Imas, Kokhava Even-Chaim, and Avishai Shindler – were buried Wednesday. The funeral procession began in Beit Chagai. As the town does not have its own cemetery, the burials were conducted in various cities around Israel.
Yitzchak and Talia Imas, parents of six children, were buried in the Mount of Olives (Har Hazeitim) cemetery in Jerusalem.
Their daughter Rut eulogized them, saying, “For 19 years you raised me... G-d, thank you for giving me wonderful parents.” She recalled their 25th wedding anniversary just two weeks earlier, “You promised you would reach your golden anniversary as well.”
“Mother, I promise to look over our family, to keep doing the things that were important to you, and to keep the family together,” she added. “I'll be there for the little ones, who will grow up with no mother or father.”
Kokhava Even-Chaim was buried in Ashdod. Her husband Momi spoke at her funeral. “I can't believe that I'm reading a goodbye letter to you, my wife, my beloved, the mother of our family. I've been to so many funerals, I want you to stay here with us.”
He spoke of the terrorists who murdered Kokhava and three others, saying, “Evil cowards, who harm innocent civilians... Only wicked people could call that war.”
Speaking to his wife, he said, “We are not the ones accompanying you. You are accompanied by the angels you created by the learning of a daily page of Gemara, by saying Tehillim [Psalms] - just in the past two weeks you finished the book of Psalms 22 times – and by the angels you created by guarding your speech. Few people know that you led a group of women committed to avoiding speaking ill of others.”
Ten-year-old Hodaya, Kokhava's daughter, spoke at the funeral as well. “You always took care of me. When something happened to me, you would leave everything and come. You taught me to be righteous. I want you to come back to me.”
Avishai's uncle spoke at his funeral in Petach Tikva, “G-d wanted you close to Him, closer than any of us. We also wanted you close, but the one true Judge had different plans.” He recalled his nephew's kindness, calm disposition and humility.
Knesset speaker Reuven Rivlin joined the mourners in Beit Chagai. “Terrorists see no 'green line,'” he said, referring to the 1949 armistice line which devides Judea and Samaria from the rest of Israel.
“Now, while our dead still lie before us, is not the time for national soul-searching,” he continued. “All I will say to you, Yitzchak, Talia, Kokhi and Avishai, is that you shall find comfort in the building of Jerusalem and of the land of Israel.”
Education Minister Gidon Saar spoke as well. “The tears we shed today are not only in our eyes; the heart weeps as well. The entire nation mourns, there is great pain over the tragedy that occurred last night. What cruelty, what murderous inhumanity, that turns on innocent civilians, on the mothers and fathers of children, including Kokhava – may G-d avenge her blood – who leaves behind a husband, a daughter and parents.”
