Four rabbis were murdered during synagogue services and family members recalled their loved ones piety in funerals that took place yesterday.
Avraham, the youngest of five Twersky children called attention to his father’s connection with God, even in his final moments. “You lived with self-sacrifice for others, and you departed this world at the highest level, wrapped in your tallit [prayer shawl] and tefillin [phylacteries], with the words of Shema Yisrael on your lips, going toward God.”
Moshe Twersky, 59, originally from Boston, immigrated to Israel in 1990 and served as the dean of the Torat Moshe Yeshiva, an English language Torah institution. He lived next door to the Kehillat Bnei Torah synagogue where he prayed every day and was killed.
Twersky came from a prominent rabbinic family in the Jewish community; he was the eldest son of Boston’s Rabbi Isadore Twersky, founder of Harvard’s Center for Jewish Studies, and a grandson to one of Modern Orthodoxy’s greatest leaders, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik. He is survived by his mother, brother and sister, wife, five children and ten grandchildren.
The Jerusalem Post reported extensively on Twersky’s funeral. Twersky’s cousin and close friend, Rabbi Moshe Meiselman, spoke of Twersky’s devotion to his students. “His sons were his students, and his students were his sons,” he said, calling his death a great loss to the Torah world.
The other victims were also immigrants to Israel from English-speaking countries. Rabbi Avraham Shmuel Goldberg, 68, was a British-born rabbi who moved to Israel in 1993. “He was the most wonderful person you could meet, a pillar of the community,” said one of Avraham closest friends, David Osborne.
According to Osborne, Rabbi Goldberg had been a regular at the Kehillat Bnei Torah synagogue. “Avraham prayed there most days for the past 10 years or so; he was a devout Jew with no political agenda. All he wanted was to live a peaceful life.” Goldberg was a husband, father of six and a grandfather.
Haaretz reported that Goldberg’s family issued a statement saying they would not be giving press interviews. “The Goldberg family accepts the divine decree with love,” they said.
Rabbi Kalman Levine, 55, moved to Israel from the Kansas City after his marriage where he devoted his entire adult life to Torah study. According to a neighbor, Levine “was always the last one praying at the synagogue. He would get up at sunrise and go to bed at two in the morning. He hardly slept and always had a book in his hand.”
Levine’s son, Yerachmiel, said the following about his father in his eulogy: “My father would study (Torah) all day long and would return home at night only to learn some more until he would fall asleep in his chair. Abba (Father), you were in the middle of saying the Shema (prayer) when your soul left your body and the terrorists came and murdered you.” Levine is survived by his wife, nine children and five grandchildren.
The fourth fatality, Aryeh Kupinsky, 43, also immigrated to Israel from the US. He worked in computers and attended the Kehillat Bnei Torah synagogue regularly. He was described as a kind man, always looking for ways to assist others. “You were a man of kindness, with modesty and humility,” his brother Chaim eulogized. Kupinsky’s family is no stranger to tragedy, as Aryeh’s teenage daughter died suddenly in her sleep two years ago. He leaves behind a wife and five surviving children.
Avi Nefoussi, a volunteer medic who lives a few blocks from the synagogue, arrived during the shooting. He told The International New York Times that he helped evacuate some of the wounded. “Then, unfortunately, we saw some bodies lying on the floor,” he said. He came across Kupinsky, whom he “knew personally, very well.” Kupinsky’s prayer shawl was still wrapped around his shoulders, as it is during daily prayer, and sometimes at burial. Nefoussi took his friend’s prayer shawl and covered the fallen man’s body before leaving.
All four men were buried yesterday in Jerusalem. A fifth victim, a Druze police officer who struggled with the terrorists, succumbed to his injuries later that night. Zidan Sayif leaves behind a wife and infant daughter. Several of the wounded remain in hospital, including one in serious condition.
