Negev, Galilee and National Resilience Minister Itshak Waserlauf was seen breaking down in tears at the grave of his rabbi, Rabbi Achiad Ettinger, of blessed memory.
Rabbi Achiad Ettinger, head of the Oz Ve’emunah Yeshiva in south Tel Aviv, was murdered in a combined terror attack at Ariel Junction.
On Sunday morning, the 10th of Adar II, 5779, a terrorist arrived at Ariel Junction and stabbed to death IDF soldier Sgt. First Class Gal Keidan, who had been guarding the area. The attacker then took the soldier’s weapon, climbed onto the traffic circle at the center of the junction, and opened fire at passing vehicles.
Rabbi Ettinger, who had already driven past the junction on his way to the yeshiva in Tel Aviv, heard the gunfire, turned back, and opened fire on the terrorist with his personal handgun, saving many lives at the scene.
He was critically wounded by the terrorist’s gunfire and evacuated to Beilinson Hospital, where he died the following day. He was 47 at the time of his death.
Rabbi Ettinger was laid to rest at Segula Cemetery in Petah Tikva. He is survived by his wife and twelve children, as well as his parents, brother, and sister. About a month after his murder, his first granddaughter was born.
At the military cemetery in Nahariya, Minister Waserlauf delivered remarks in memory of the fallen, in which he also spoke about Rabbi Ettinger and his son, Harel Ettinger, who was killed five years later while charging at terrorists during combat in southern Lebanon.