Channels

Naftali at the seminary
Photo: Gil Yohanan
Photo: Gil Yohanan
With Rabbi Shapira, the yeshiva head
Photo: Gil Yohanan

Attack victim returns to Jerusalem yeshiva

Naftali Sheetrit, who was critically injured in Mercaz Harav shooting, greeted in moving ceremony half a year after bloody attack. 'This is our greatest revenge,' says yeshiva source

Six months after the massacre in Mercaz Harav yeshiva's library, the last attack victim returned Tuesday to a nearby seminary for juveniles.

 

Naftali Sheetrit, 14, who was critically injured in the bloody attack, was hospitalized for months at the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, and is now in the midst of a long rehabilitation process.

 

The yeshiva's staff, the rabbis and Naftali's fellow students greeted him at the seminary in a moving ceremony attended by his parents, the paramedic who attended to him that night, Yitzhak Dadon who killed the terrorist, and ZAKA Chairman Yehuda Meshi Zahav, who identified the bodies of the eight students killed in the attack.

 

Sheetrit, who visited the yeshiva for the first time since the shooting, entered the library and said a prayer thanking God for the miracle he performed at that same place.

 

He was then accompanied by his family members for a detailed reenactment of the event. He toured the library, described the terrorist's exact killing route, pointed out the places where the survivors hid and the places where his friends who did not manage to escape were slaughtered.


 

Returning to the library (Photo: Gil Yohanan)

 

"There was a lot of excitement," one of the people present at the ceremony told Ynet. "There was not one person without tears in their eyes. It was so moving seeing him walking on his legs with the paramedic who saved him. It's a real miracle, and those who know about his condition and the fact that he was lying between life and death, understand how great it is."

 

A source in Mercaz Harav added, "Naftali returned to school today at the yeshiva. Although he won't study full time due to operations and the rehabilitation he must undergo, his return to the seminary is our greatest revenge.

 

"The fact that the benches here are full and all the students and sitting and studying and moving on with their lives is the most significant thing as far as we are concerned."

 


פרסום ראשון: 09.03.08, 14:03
 new comment
Warning:
This will delete your current comment