Teen settler Eliyahu Asheri laid to rest

VIDEO - Masses on Thursday afternoon attended the funeral of 18-year-old Eliyahu Asheri from the settlement of Itamar, who kidnapped and murdered by terrorists. The funeral left from the Snahedria funeral parlor in Jerusalem to the Mount of Olives Cemetery. Central Command Chief Major-General Yair Naveh said during a briefing Thursday afternoon at the Central Command in Jerusalem that Eliyahu Asheri was "undoubtedly murdered immediately." Rabbi Yitzhak Nissim, head of the pre-military Tzufit preparatory academy, where Eliyahu Asheri studied, eulogized his student during the young man's funeral. "Eliyahu, you were like my son and a brother to your fellow students. I can't look at the empty chair you used to occupy," the rabbi said. "The Gemara says that when eulogizing one should make the public cry, but there is no need for that here," said rabbi Yitzhak Naria, head of Or Etzion yeshiva in the funeral home, where Asheri's family, friends, and residents of Itamat gathered to their last respect to the teen. Many of his young friends broke down crying. Rabbis and representatives from Yesha Council and from the National Union-NRP party participated in the funeral. "When you arrive to heaven along with other saints, make peace between Israel and God," said Asheri's father Yitro. "Stand before our God and first defend the people of Israel all the time. Ask God to grant the people of Israel soon," said his mother Miriam. Funeral procession (Photo: Gil Yohanan) Rabbi Nissim said: "Eliyahu, how did you leave us like that and went storming up to heavens? You left us as a family, all of us. In one storm you disappeared on us and dropped down on us a very big cloak. We're praying to be worthy of this cloak." "I will tell you a secret. At the beginning we mulled over whether to accept him to academy, since he was young and not all teens are mature. After a few months I called his parents and told them, this is something else, I have never seen anything like it. There is no prayer like his prayer. "There are things given to human hearts and there are things higher than us. This fire is higher than us, it has no human reason," said rabbi Nissim. Rabbi Naria said while crying: "This is the second time that I say goodbye to you. A year ago when we spoke and after many difficulties I suggested you go to the preparatory academy. As much as you were scared, and afraid, you knew to admit afterwards that it was the best step you took." "I remember that Eliyahu saw pictures of atrocities committed by terrorists and he couldn't bear it. He couldn't sleep and was restless. A pure soul that left us," the rabbi said. Tears at the funeral (Photo: Gil Yohanan) At the end of the eulogies the funeral procession went toward the Olive Mount cemetery, where Eliyahu was buried. Chief Sephardic Rabbi Shlomo Amar also eulogized the teen: "Every synagogue will cry over the fire that God has set. This horrible fire is not only the fire of the parents, the family and the community it is the fire of the entire people of Israel. The heart of the people of Israel was savagely broken over this evil, on this saint. The evilness and cruelty of those blood-thirsty evils who spill innocent blood. God repays and doesn't yield. He will avenge this holly blood." Speaking to Eliyahu, rabbi Amar continued: "We are asking of you to be leader, do not be quiet and do not rest and relay our cries. All of the people of Israel told him – how long, God, for this suffering? How long, God?" 'We lost one of the best boys' Yesha Council Chairman Bentzi Lieberman said: "We are standing here shocked and hurt. A son to mother and a father who was murdered by terrorists, beasts, vile people. If the people of Israel forgot or lost its true path to connection to its land and roots, there comes Eliyahu and gives you a reminder." Lieberman also slammed the government: "The government forgot who the real enemy is, and on the day of the kidnapping was busy talking about outposts' evacuation. The prime minister is unsuccessful in protecting our sons' lives, not in Sderot, and not in Ofra." Speaking Thursday morning after the discovery of the murder of Eliyahu Asheri, his teacher Rabbi Yitzhak Nissim said, “We lost one of the best boys. The contrast between his goodness and radiant smile and the evil and cruelty of the other side is so extreme.” Rabbi Nissim heads the pre-military Tzufit preparatory academy, where Eliyahu was a student. Thursday morning, Eliyahu’s parents, Yitro and Miriam, and his four siblings, were given the bitter news of his death. Rabbi Nissim arrived at the National Institute of Forensic Medicine in Abu Kabir Thursday to identify the boy’s body. He told Ynet, “Early this morning, Itamar Rabbi Avi Ronsky contacted me, after receiving news of Eliyahu’s death. We decided that he would go to the family’s home and I went to the Forensic Medicine Institute.” He recalled Eliyahu as a smiley, optimistic and quiet youth. “The Israeli community owes him. We all owe him. He was one of society’s best,” Rabbi Nissim said. “He loved to help people he was a person of faith and roots regarding the state and land of Israel. Eliyah came to preparatory program to build himself up before his military service. He had one more year left.” Aviram Zino contributed to the report

Teen settler Eliyahu Asheri laid to rest

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