Rabbi Peretz with his parents, Shoshana and Daniel Ben Gal
Rabbi Peretz with his parents, Shoshana and Daniel Ben GalUlpanei Hen

Rabbi Itamar Ben Gal, murdered in a stabbing attack at the entrance to Ariel, studied for a bachelor's degree in teaching but never attended the graduation ceremony.

Yesterday, a year-and-a-half after his death, his parents Shoshana and Daniel received the degree from the heads of the Orot Yisrael College, where Rabbi Itamar studied.

Bereaved father Daniel said despite the sense of loss, "we receive strength from Itamar's personality that, following his death, we realized how great he was - far beyond the assessment we'd made during his lifetime."

The moved father wished to thank the lecturers and the heads of the college, "for having been partners in building the spiritual stature of a martyr. I'm convinced that if Itamar were here, he'd be grateful to you for the interesting studies and extensive knowledge he received during his undergraduate studies.

"He wrote in the closing lines of his extensive work, which he presented to Dr. Yossi Lundin on the effect of pacifism on the multiplicity of casualties in World War II, that he had enjoyed his studies and that he savored every day of study here at the college."

Rabbi Itamar Ben Gal was murdered at age 29 in a stabbing attack at the entrance to the city of Ariel, while he was on his way to Har Bracha where he lived, and was survived by a wife and four children (now 2 to 7 years old). He was a teacher and educator at the Bnei Akiva Yeshiva in Givat Shmuel and at the Har Bracha yeshiva.

"He would say, 'I want to reach the students in the center of the country, too,' and every day he'd travel for a long time to educate, and he gave his life for this work," said Rabbi Itamar's father.

Orot Israel College President Prof. Yuval Sinai thanked the devoted staff of the campus in Rehovot for their meaningful work and investment in each and every student. "Like Moshe and Aharon, we are the educators and teachers of the future, we are all servant-leaders, we've come to serve the people of Israel and this is a tremendous privilege."

In memory of Itamar Ben Gal (Hebrew):

לזכרו של איתמר בן גל