Several weeks ago on October 1st, Eitam and Naama Henkin, residents of the community of Neria in the West Bank, were brutally murdered as they were driving from Itamar with four of their six children sitting in the back seat. They were shot by terrorists who opened fire on them as they drove by.
Rav Eitam Henkin was the son of Rabbanit Henkin, founder and director of the Nishmat Institute for Advanced Jewish Studies for Women in Jerusalem, and Rabbi Yehuda Henkin, author of the responsa Benei Vanim and a Modern Orthodox posek.
Rav Eitam himself was on the faculty of Nishmat and could often be found studying in the Nishmat beit midrash. To commemorate Rav Henkin and his wife, Nishmat held a tikun on the night of HoShana Raba – a night of learning in their memory.
The following quote from Rav Sperling, a member of the Nishmat faculty, is an exemplification of the life of Torah that Rav Henkin and his family led:
“I spoke on Shabbat to Rabbanit Henkin…She would like us continue and increase in our learning of Torah. Because the Torah is a tree of life to those that grasp it. Because the more Torah there is in Am Yisrael the more life there is in Am Yisrael–and while the evil in the world strives to diminish our lives, we will increase it. Because the Torah is light. Because the more Torah we learn the more light there is in the world – and while the darkness of evil tries to extinguish the light, we will increase it. Because Eitam and Na’amah lived a life of Torah, for Torah, and in their merit we will continue and increase Torah.”
Miriam Pearl Klahr, a senior at Stern College and an alumnus of Nishmat said, “Thinking about the pain she and the entire Henkin family are experiencing is heartbreaking and almost impossible to imagine, since to me she epitomizes ultimate strength.”
This attack on the Henkins was only the first of what has been a continuous series of terror attacks in Israel, mainly in Jerusalem. On October 14th, a woman was injured in a stabbing at the Jerusalem central bus station and was moderately wounded.
On October 13th, two Israelis were killed and fifteen injured in a stabbing and shooting attack on a bus in Southern Jerusalem. Israeli police killed one attacker and managed to take the other into custody.
Additionally, on October 11th an Arab-Israeli drove his car into a woman and stabbed three other victims at Kibbutz Gan Shmuel.
In Ra’anana,four people were wounded in a stabbing attack at a bus stop outside the Beit Loewenstein Rehabilitation Center on Jerusalem Street while earlier that day an Israeli was wounded on Ahuza Street in Ra’anana.
In response to these attacks, Israeli police have sealed off certain Palestinian areas in East Jerusalem. Additionally, several Israeli military units have been deployed to reinforce Israeli police.
Stern students have been rallying behind Israel in many ways; with tehillim and tefillah sessions, public rallies, and staying informed and aware of the tense situation. Many students are also left wondering how to move forward from here.
“In regards to moving forward,” said Klahr, “I am learning a few perakim of Tanach for a siyum for the shloshim [the end of the first thirty-day period of mourning]. I also spoke to the students of my high school, SKA, about Rav Eitam and Rabbanit Henkin to help personalize the tragedy and hope to help plan some sort of Stern BMC event in their memory on the night of the shloshim.”
May their memories be for a blessing, and may their families be comforted among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.