The New England Patriots observed a moment of silence on Monday for Ezra Schwartz, the native of Sharon, Massachusetts, who was killed in a terrorist attack last Thursday in Gush Etzion. Before Monday night's game against the Buffalo Bills at Gillette Stadium, the announcer asked fans to stand and honor Schwartz, who was a huge Patriots fan. "Ladies and gentlemen, in a month when the NFL salutes the service of our brave men and women in our armed services, we also pause to remember the many who have recently lost their lives in senseless terrorist attacks abroad," the announcer said. "Last Thursday, this reality struck close to home, when 18-year-old Ezra Schwartz, a native of Sharon, Massachusetts, was gunned down nearly 5,500 miles from home while studying abroad. "At this time, we would like to honor Ezra Schwartz and hundreds of victims like him with a moment of silence." Patriots owner Robert Kraft has been an active supporter of Israel. He took a group of NFL Hall of Famers on a trip to Israel over the summer. After his bar mitzvah five years ago, Schwartz donated gift money he had received to United Hatzalah, an Israeli emergency medical services organization. The money was used to buy a motorcycle ambulance, known as an "ambucycle," which is still in use by the organization. "Five years ago, I had the privilege to speak with some very special bar mitzvah boys at a dedication ceremony in Sharon, Massachusetts," said United Hatzalah President Eli Beer. "Together, they had donated an ambucycle to United Hatzalah. One of the boys who made that dedication ceremony possible was Ezra Schwartz. "It hit me like a ton of bricks when I realized that the amazing young yeshiva student who was killed here last week in a terror attack in Gush Etzion was Ezra from Sharon, and that his name had been riding on a United Hatzalah ambucycle here in Israel since 2010. Our volunteer medics responded to the attack but it was out of our hands. "My heart goes out to the Schwartz family. I have no words to express the loss I feel over Ezra's being taken in this way. All I can do is echo the words of Lynn, one of the mothers of the bar mitzvah boys of five years ago, 'It gives us such great comfort to know that Ezra's name and neshama [spirit or soul] is riding through the streets of Jerusalem saving lives.'" Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who hails from Schwartz's native Massachusetts, said on Tuesday while in Israel on a one-day visit, "Just yesterday, I talked to the family of Ezra Schwartz from Massachusetts, a young man who came here out of high school, ready to go to college, excited about his future, and yesterday his family was sitting shiva and I talked to them and heard their feelings, the feelings of any parent for the loss of a child." Kerry lamented Schwartz's death as "another young life cut short." "Theres no excuse for any of the violence," Kerry said. "Theres just no rationale."
