The funeral of Barak Lufan Hy"d, murdered in last week's terrorist attack in Tel Aviv, is scheduled to take place on Sunday afternoon at half-past-five at the cemetery in the northern kibbutz of Ginosar, where Lufan grew up.
In advance of the funeral, the family released a statement to media.
"Barak was everything good in my life," related his widow, Dana. "Barak had the most incredible tranquility; he was the calmest person. He was such a good person; you won't find a single person with anything bad to say about him. He always cared and always found a solution for things. He was my other half, my best friend ever. I wish for every married couple the kind of relationship we had.
"We have three amazing children," the young widow continued. "Yuval is five-and-a-half, Amit is three-and-a-half, and little Dor is five months old. Barak waited for him with such anticipation and was always saying that he was going to be a rower -- there were no two ways about it.
"We named him 'Dor' because he was the next generation; he was the first grandson in the family, but we didn't realize that he would be the next generation to grow up without a father.
"Last Thursday, Barak told me that he was going out with some friends to chill out," Dana continued. "When he left the house, Yuval said, 'Daddy, you look so nice!' That was a happy day, and I told him. It was also the last day of my maternity leave, and Barak did everything possible to enable me to go back to work and to make sure it would work out. I spoke to him later and he told me that he'd just arrived and I told him: Great, have a good time. That was the last time I ever heard from him."
Omer, a friend of Barak, continued: "Barak wasn't my friend; he was my brother. There's no other way of describing him. He was an inseparable part of all of us here. We can't absorb what's happened. It's like a hallucination, and that was what it was like last Thursday when we went to the hospital too.
"He was the best son parents could wish for; the best friend anyone could want," he added. "He was the best father, the best husband -- but he didn't know it. He always had this shy smile on his face; he was so modest, and he didn't care a bit about compliments or praise. He was larger than life, and it took this to happen for me to realize just how far that was true."
The family of Eytam Magini, who was also killed in the terrorist attack on Dizengoff Street, has decided to donate his organs. Hagai, Eytam's grandfather, related: "Anyone who met him would have said exactly what I'm saying now, and it's not cliched, because that's just who he was. He was a great person, and there really aren't any words that can do justice to him. He had such wisdom, such a personality, such a way of relating to other people. Everyone loved him instantly.
"Since that last Thursday night we're in such pain, a pain that no one can comprehend or absorb. Only someone who has experienced it for himself can understand what it feels like, what we're going through. I lost my cousin 12 years ago, but to lose a son or a grandson is something anyone who doesn't know what it's like can only describe in words, not feelings. I wouldn't wish this on anyone," he told Galei Tzahal.