Last Thursday’s tragic car accident in the Jordan Valley claimed another life Saturday night.
Rabbi Tzion Hai Avi-Zohar, a 71-year-old resident of the Ramat Shlomo neighborhood in Jerusalem, passed away Saturday night after efforts to stabilize his condition failed.
His passing turns Thursday’s accident into a double tragedy which claimed the lives of both father and son.
The incident occurred Thursday afternoon as the Avi-Zohar family was travelling on Route 90 through the Jordan Valley.
The family had planned to spend the Passover holiday with their elder son, who lives in Teverya (Tiberias) in northern Israel.
Disaster struck, however, as they made their way on Route 90 near Moshav Argaman in the Jordan Valley.
A Palestinian Arab driver swerved out of his lane, crashing into the Avi-Zohar family. Shlomo Hezkiah Avi-Zohar, Tzion’s younger son, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Magen David Adom paramedics evacuated three wounded family members, including Tzion Hai and his wife.
Shlomo Hezkiah, 31, was a resident of the Gilo neighborhood of Jerusalem. Friends and neighbors recalled him as being shy but friendly and always eager to help those around him.
“Whenever anyone needed something, he was there with a smile to help. He was very generous, a true person of kindness,” Haya Schwartz, a neighbor and family friend, told Arutz Sheva.
Shlomo Hezkiah is survived by his wife and five small children. His wife is expecting their sixth child.