Residents of Otniel and Kiryat Arba have created a fund to help the orphans of the Imes family, whose father and mother were murdered earlier this week in a terrorist shooting attack. Parents Yitzchak and Talia Imes (pronounced Ee-mas) of Beit Chagai were survived by children ages 24, 19, 16, 12, 9 and 4.
The fund, created with the help of the Hemla – Merkaz Hessed organization, has already received support from Rabbi Dov Lior, Chief Rabbi of Hevron and Kiryat Arba.
One of the organizers, veteran Land of Israel activist Yehuda Glick, described the initiative as “the least that we can do for the children, and for the sake of their parents' work.” He called on the public to give support, particularly in the days leading up to Rosh Hashanah, the Day of Judgement.
Posters calling for contributions to the fund recalled Yitchak and Talia Imes's dedication to their community. “They gave everything they had to the Jewish people, to the land of Israel and the Temple Mount while alive, and sanctified G-d's name with their deaths. Six orphans with no father or mother were left behind – we will not stand idly by,” they read.
A seventh child in Beit Chagai, young Hodaya Even-Chaim, lost her mother Kokhava in the attack that claimed Yitzchak and Talia Imes' lives. A fourth victim of the attack, 24-year-old Avishai Schindler, was survived by his wife of one year.