1. The number of fallen soldiers from Kibbutz Beit Hashita, in northern Israel near Beit Shean, is greater than that from any other kibbutz. In the 100-year war between Jews and Arabs, Otniel has become Beit Hashita 2. I believe no other community has had to pay a heavier price, proportionally, in this war, not even Itamar, a frequent target of terrorists. Of course, I am not implying that there is a competition. What I am saying is that I feel pain, and a sense of awe, as I watch this community of around 100 families defend the stretch of land between Beersheba and Jerusalem, despite this bloody toll. The defenders of Israel's Negev Desert have been left to their own devices as they protect the path taken by their ancestors in Judea and Samaria. The hundreds of thousands of Jews who should live in that area never arrived, and Otniel residents are on their own. Through their daily commutes, they connect the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron to the Yatir Forest near Beersheba. It is thanks to their constant movement that these areas flourish. They work the land and engage in Torah study; their good deeds are very much present in their lives, not just when they are eulogized. The number of Otniel residents who have been killed in attacks is too hard to fathom. Rabbi Ami Olami, killed near Beit Hagai; Yosef and Chana Dikstein, and their son Shoval; Elazar Leibovich, Rina Didowsky, and Eliyahu Ben-Am, killed near the community; Eyal Yeberbaum, a yeshiva student killed in Negohot; Gabriel Hoter, Zvi Ziemen, Noam Apter and Yehuda Bamberger, the four hesder yeshiva students killed in an attack inside their yeshiva; Noam Bahagon, killed during his military service. The list goes on and on. After the June 8 shooting attack in the Sarona Complex in Tel Aviv, teenagers from Otniel handed out cookies to Tel Aviv residents as a show of solidarity. Israelis should have taken their cars and driven to Otniel this week to reciprocate this gesture. We should all have lined up on the narrow road leading to the community to give those residents, our heroic brethren, a collective hug. 2. All parents should look up the full text of the eulogies delivered by the children of Michael Mark on Sunday, two days after their father was shot to death. The love with which they described their father is contagious and the eulogies can tell us a lot about how we should act, as humans and as parents. One after another, the children spoke about a father like no other; a father who would "lighten up your day" when you woke up, as his daughter Shira said. "You were an open-minded father, you let us be who we wanted to be," she said. "You would send us messages that were inundated with kind words of affection. You were so proud of us -- it was so much fun walking around and telling everyone that I was Michael's daughter. You were a father with warm hands, with the most loving heart. You and Mom represented love in its deepest sense. You knew the secret that many people try to decipher for years: You were one. Words cannot describe how thankful I am for the countless moments that helped make me who I am, for the warm hand that held me throughout my life. Sorry for not being worthy of having you as my father. I take comfort in the fact that I told you how much I loved you every day." If there is a thing called "parenting school," it is Shira's eulogy.
The secret: Boundless love
מערכת ישראל היום
מערכת "ישראל היום“ מפיקה ומעדכנת תכנים חדשותיים, מבזקים ופרשנויות לאורך כל שעות היממה. התוכן נערך בקפדנות, נבדק עובדתית ומוגש לציבור מתוך האמונה שהקוראים ראויים לעיתונות טובה יותר - אמינה, אובייקטיבית ועניינית.
