More than 25,000 people attended the Friday funeral of Rabbi Elazar Abuhatzeira, who was stabbed to death in the early hours of Friday morning by a man apparently upset with the advice the rabbi gave him. The suspected murderer is Asher Dahan, 42, from Elad, a city in the center of Israel, located about 25 kilometers (16 miles) east of Tel Aviv. Rabbi Abuhatzeira was buried in the Mount of Olives Cemetery in Jerusalem. Prior to the funeral procession, Chief Rabbis Shlomo Amar and Yona Metzger eulogized Rabbi Abuhatzeira at the Yeshivat Porat Yosef in Jerusalem's Geula neighborhood. In his eulogy, Rabbi Amar said: "A wicked hand struck a holy man, a man among the greatest in our nation, son of supreme holy men; a man who led tens of thousands in the way of the Torah, and a man with true fear of heaven. With our great anguish now, we must stir the people to return to the Almighty with all our hearts. In recent years, it has become common for us to spill each other's blood. We must awaken and take charge of our children's education, and teach them good manners and virtues. Each and every one of us should learn to suppress feelings of hatred and jealousy, encourage love and fraternity, and avoid anger." Abuhatzeira's uncle, Rabbi Baruch Abuhatzeira, known as "Baba Baruch," also gave a eulogy. "Rabbi Elazar went the way of the Ten Holy Martyrs and the way of the holy members of the Abuhatzeira family," he said with much emotion in his voice. "He sacrificed his life for the nation of Israel." Abuhatzeira's son, Rabbi Pinhas Abuhatzeira, who was named as his father's successor, also eulogized his father. With a broken voice, he said, "Father, on the eve of the Sabbath you sat with your children and grandchildren and said that you don't know how to deal with the pain of the tribulations. We noticed that often you were not with us. What pain my father had when Jews passed away, all for the sake of Israel. The fasts throughout the year, the isolation. Who could live that way but you? You never ate meat or poultry, you always fasted." Wailing in sorrow, the rabbi's son continued, "Who will bless us now? Who will guide us? Who will open our eyes to the Torah? Who will instill within us the will to rise higher and higher? I couldn't withstand his sobs during his New Year prayers. We couldn't stand to see a man sobbing from the beginning till the end of his prayers, due to his fear of the judgement. Father, stand in heaven and beseech God for the good of Israel. Father is gone, but his spirit will remain." Shas, an ultra-orthodox political party and coalition member of the current government, said in a statement, "We are hurt as we, together with all of Israel, mourn the great loss of the righteous and holy kabbalist Rabbi Elazar, of blessed memory, of the Abuhatzeira family. This is a day of pain for the people of Israel." Sixty-three people who attended the funeral required medical attention due to fainting and dehydration and were treated on site. Three were taken to the hospital. "I didn't like his advice" Meanwhile, the remand of Dahan, the suspected murderer, was extended for another 13 days, during which he will undergo psychiatric observation. Dahan's attorney, Public Defender Yuval Livadaro, said, "My client is sorry for what happened. He didn't mean to murder [the rabbi]." Daniel Malka, Abuhatzeira's secretary, said Dahan was the last person to enter the rabbi's study late Thursday night. Dahan "said a few words to the rabbi and then pulled out a knife and stabbed him," Malka said. "I called out to him 'Rabbi, rabbi' and saw the blood pouring from his chest. He died in my arms." Witnesses reported that Dahan gave the rabbi a note in which he complained that the rabbi's advice about his relationship with his wife had not solved the couple's troubles. While the rabbi was reading the note, Dahan brandished a kitchen knife and stabbed the rabbi twice in the chest. The rabbi cried out in pain while an aide held him and screamed for help. Dahan tried to flee with the bloody knife still in his hand. "I grabbed him forcefully, beat him and held him so that he couldn't get away," one of the rabbi's aides said. "Others on the scene began beating Dahan while he was trying to break free and escape. Police arrived and placed Dahan in a patrol car. Southern District Police Cmdr. Yossi Pariente called for the case to be transferred to the Negev Regional Police Unit. Dahan confessed immediately to the crime. "I don't know what happened and what went through my mind," Dahan said during his interrogation. "I was having lots of troubles recently, and asked for the rabbi's advice, but the troubles just got worse. I asked for his help, and believed that his advice would help me. When nothing he said helped I went to hurt him, but I didn't plan on murdering him, God forbid." Local police officers, together with Negev Regional Police Unit Cmdr. Chief Superintendent David Buani, decided to postpone asking Dahan to re-enact the crime due to their concern that members of the rabbi's ultra-Orthodox community would try to harm Dahan. In an undercover operation, the Elad municipality and the police snuck Dahan's wife and their four children out of their home. When the youngest child, a third grader, asked what the commotion was about, someone responded, "They're making a movie." Police then accompanied Dahan's wife and children to a friend's house in a distant community. "Friends of Dahan's wife woke her in the middle of the night and told her what happened," a relative of the family said. "She didn't believe them, and said again and again, 'How could that be? He loved and revered that rabbi.' The oldest son didn't believe it and asked if something happened to his father. We understood that Dahan was troubled throughout the past year, and often took his anger out on his children." Another relative said the family's concern now was that someone would harm them in an attempt to avenge the rabbi's death. "The miracle in this is that he didn't murder his wife and children," the relative said of Dahan. "He was taking medication for his condition throughout the year. We are concerned about crazy individuals who may try to take revenge on us."
