Israel Prize laureate Miriam Peretz, the mother of Maj. Eliraz Peretz, kicked off the third annual "Eliraz Race" in which dozens of runners took part in Petah Tikva on Friday morning.
The race was initiated by the educator Rabbi Tzadok Damari from the Amit Eliraz yeshiva, which commemorates Eliraz's memory. Students, youth movement members, representatives of the Golani Brigade and members of the Peretz family participated in the race, led by Eliraz's 15-year old son, Ohr Chadash.
Prior to the race, Miriam Peretz spoke about Eliraz's journey to Poland, and of discovering that he had taken 400 pictures while on the trip. One picture was of him and the rest were of flowers. "When I asked him 'What is this?' he asked me, 'What do you see, Mother? These are flowers from the children's forest in Poland.'"
"He gave the name of a child to every flower. 'These are the children of the Jewish nation - their blood spilled and these flowers grew from the blood.' At the age of 18, Eliraz promised me, 'There will never be any more pictures like this.' When he was an officer, he gave his soldiers the picture of the little boy with his hands up and said, 'Our job is to make sure that there are no more pictures like this.'"
Peretz thanked the initiators of the race and said that "when a child is killed, it's destruction, but amidst the destruction we find lights. This day is a great light for us to strengthen us ahead of the holy day of Memorial Day for the fallen soldiers."