Thousands of friends, neighbors and family members attended a traditional 30-day memorial ceremony for terror victims Eitam and Naama Henkin in Jerusalem on Sunday, where Eitam was remembered as a hero for saving the couple's young children. The Henkins were murdered in front of their four children -- Itamar, 6 months, Neta, 4, Nitzan, 7, and Matan, 9 -- when Palestinian gunmen attacked them while they were driving on a Samaria road at the beginning of October. Their children now live with their maternal grandparents, Hanan and Hila Armoni, in the community of Peduel. Hila Armoni spoke of the challenges in raising the four newly orphaned children and said, "They were saved by their courageous father's heroic actions." Police investigations revealed that after the first round of gunfire stopped the car, the gunmen came up on both sides of the vehicle to ensure they had killed the family. Eitam Henkin got out of the car and began to fight one of the terrorists. The second gunman tried to shoot Eitam, but instead accidentally hit his partner, injuring his arm. The two terrorists then fled. The wounded terrorist's gun was found at the scene, and finding it enabled police to catch the attackers. At the memorial ceremony, family members said Eitam Henkin's brave confrontation with the gunman probably saved his children's lives. Speaking at the memorial, Naama's mother said, "On the holy Sabbath eve, when [the first weekly Torah portion,] Parashat Bereshit was read, about 10 days after that bitter night when Eitam and his Naama, our dear loved ones, were murdered and their children came to live with us, I felt a gentle caress on my shoulder. "I felt a familiar warm embrace, an embrace as pleasant as Naama. It was my daughter's embrace, my Naama, my beautiful one -- it lit up my heart and gave me strength, it gave me confidence and trust that the children were in good hands, and that we will all provide these dear ones, God willing, with happy lives. Lives filled with good love and reverence of God. Lives filled with joy, comfort and togetherness. "That caress told me, 'You and the kids will be okay, and we will give you strength." The grandmother said that since the murders, Itamar, the youngest child, "has grown two more teeth. He sits up, sporting a winning smile, and has started to crawl right before our tear-filled eyes. [His siblings] Nitzan and Neta hug him so hard, sometimes too hard, and then Matan [the eldest] tells them to be careful because he's not a toy. "We answer as you would, Naama: 'Matani, it's okay, they can save that hug for grandma and grandpa.' "And then I cry, and Neta asks if she can give me a kiss on each eye and on my forehead, and then Simon the cat joins in, and I'm already getting used to it all. Can you imagine me agreeing to keep a cat in the house? But your father took them to the vet and they came back with a ginger cat, because that's what they all chose." At the dinner that followed the ceremony, Armoni spoke again, saying, "We have already begun to read them books in parts, as we did with you [Naama] and Yishai. We now give the weekly Torah portion lessons. Nitzan, that cute little one, goes to visit his friends at their homes. Matan is still an outstanding student at his Talmud Torah school in Neria, and the wonderful staff there never leave him for a moment. Neta fits in so well at the kindergarten in Peduel, it's as if he had always been here, and sweet Itamar melts the hearts of the day care staff." Speaking about the family's loss, she said, "For now, this separation is still very hard on us. Wait for us, good people, do not despair, write so you don't forget. We apologize to everyone whom we told 'not right now' when they asked to help, to visit, to distract us from the pain." Armoni then offered thanks to "all the good people from different circles who have been helping us quietly, with unparalleled grace, the people who give us the strength to continue with this enormous mission given to us by the Almighty."
Terror victim 'saved his children' in struggle with assailants
A month after Eitam and Naama Henkin were murdered by Palestinian terrorists, police investigation finds that Eitam's fighting one of the terrorists prompted the second to fire, which wounded the first and led both to flee before harming the children.
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