Avi and his baby daughter Ori, with a picture of Nadav in the background
A new light shines on bereaved Raimond family
Five years after they lost their son Nadav in the 2014 Gaza war, and following a long, difficult process, Avi and Yuval welcome into the world their new baby daughter, Ori; 'She's not a replacement,' says her father
Bereaved parents Avi and Yuval Raimond have a new reason to celebrate - a new daughter, born almost five years after they lost who lost their paratrooper son Nadav in the 2014 Gaza war.
"Two and a half years after our loss, we made a decision to expand the family," say the Raimonds, who live on a moshav in northern Israel. This Memorial Day, they mourn Nadav but also rejoice at the birth three-month-old Ori.
Avi and his baby daughter Ori, with a picture of Nadav in the background
The idea to have another child took a while to develop, and was the result of their meeting with other parents who lost children during the war, known in Israel as Operation Protective Edge.
"We deliberated, but finally started the difficult, challenging process," says Avi.
The family went through the process hand in hand with Light for Families, an organization that accompanies bereaved families.
"With Ori, I felt just like I did in prior deliveries," says Yuval.
"For the first time I held her there was this amazing feeling, I felt a deep bond when I placed her heart against mine."
Avi says that Ori wasn't brought into this world to replace Nadav. The couple has two other sons, who were 15 and 13 when Nadav died.
"I don't mean to raise her with a sense of loss," he says.
Sgt. Nadav Raimond, who fell in battle during the 2014 Gaza war
"Ori will know Nadav through stories, pictures and through his presence in our home. She's not a replacement, nor is she here to take his place," says the father.
Nadav, a third-generation paratrooper, was 19 when he was killed with four other soldiers in an attack on an IDF post by Gaza gunmen who infiltrated into Israel through a terror tunnel. All five soldiers were training to be commanders.
"Nadav and his brothers in arms fought like lions," says Avi.
"They died in a heroic battle, they were attacked from four directions and shot at from close range," says her father, detailing the tragic final moments of his son's life, as he embraced the new addition — a new beginning for his family.
