Stories from Yonah's Shiva - Part 1

When all of Yonah’s siblings and parents arrived at Kiryat Arba, Yonah’s and Dina’s (his wife) friends hugged us and fed us the traditional mourning hard boiled eggs and lentil soup. We were still in a daze, hoping this nightmare would end; hoping that Yonah would appear and say, “Surprise, you’re here. It took this kind of incident to get you to come to see us.” But nothing like that happened. He did not appear. I saw my grandson, overwhelmed with the many strange faces crowded into a small very modest apartment. He had Yonah’s big, dark brown eyes. When he finally smiled, he boasted a huge grin like Yonah’s.

Many people streamed through visiting us for shiva. The residents of Kiryat Arba were incredible. They brought food and helped serve and empathized with us. They knew and loved Yonah. People from the tribe of Menashe told us how friendly he was. People from Russia told us how he always smiled. People from Ethiopia told us how sweet and kind he was.

One Kiryat Arba resident shared with us a conversation he had with Yonah. The person wondered why Yonah asked, “How are you?” all the time?” Yonah answered him that events in life change from day to day, from moment to moment. Yonah told him he was interested in his new moments. Everyone agreed that Yonah displayed a genuine concern for all people’s well being. He always offered help, was polite, and reached out to everyone no matter who they were and what they believed. He was tolerant of everyone.

Other Kiryat Arba residents described his love for his baby. Each Shabbat, he would bring his baby to synagogue. He was proud to be a father. He also loved being a Levi and he eagerly washed the hands of Kohanim before the Birchat Kohanim (Priestly Blessings).They related that he looked forward to doing this job when the Messiah came.

He felt part of the synagogue and even bought his own synagogue seat with his nameplate.

Everyone said Yonah fit into the community. The community fit him like a glove. Kiryat Arba consists of many kinds of Jews. Some are religious, some are not. The community is international made of Jews from United States, Russia, India, Ethiopia, Canada, etc. They are all genuine, down to earth, no façades, no materialistic Jews. They are Zionists, idealists, and spiritual even if some are not religious. Their faces displayed empathy for our loss because they too felt that Yonah’s death was a loss for all of the Jewish people and Israel. The many, many visitors never stopped talking about Yonah’s smile, optimism, respect for all people, and his love for the Land of Israel. His many friends from Jerusalem, Kiryat Arba, schools and work shared with us many stories that the world should know about this special human being.