Remember “Thou Shalt not Kill,” President Shimon Peres said at the mourning house for slain Rabbi Elazar Abuhatzeira. He was stabbed to death in Be’er Sheva Thursday night by a disturbed man who said he “worshipped” him and even kissed his hand before killing the renowned rabbi.
President Peres joined hundreds of mourners at the Be’er Sheva home of the Abuhatzeira family. The rabbi’s grandfather was the famed Babi Sali, Rabbi Yisrael Abuhatzeira, whose picture hangs in thousands of homes in and outside of Israel.
“The People of Israel are united as one family” over the tragic murder, President Peres said. “The Abuhatzeira family is significant in Israel’s history and in every level of Israeli society today.
“The family’s sorrow is everyone’s sorrow. Rabbi Elazar Abuhatzeira was a valuable asset and a leader of the Jewish people, who showed that there is no division in the presence of a great man.”
The President added, “I am shocked at the murder. The Ten Commandments explicitly states, ”Thou shalt not kill” and that means everyone, even more so when it comes to a leader.”
He told the family that it posses a great quality of not only expressing love of the Land of Israel by its presence in the Negev and the Galilee but also through a pioneering spirit, in every sense of the word.
“I comfort you not as a private person but in the name of all of the People of Israel for the sake of unity.”