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| Rav Eitan Shnerb after terror attack that killed his daughter(Credit: Arutz 7) |
"Everything started when I took my children Rina [17 years old] and Dvir [19 years old] on a hike in the Land of Israel [in south-western Samaria, about 15 miles from Ben Gurion International Airport as the crow flies]. I wanted to spend some quality time with them. We arrived at the Danny Spring [named for Danny Gonen, murdered in a terrorist attack there four years ago], parked the car, and started going down on the path. Towards the end, there was a big explosion. I could tell right away that it was a pretty big explosive device."
"The place was empty, except for one car that the security forces are looking for. It was quite unusual that it was empty, because on Fridays, Danny Spring is generally packed with people. It was a bit strange to us" – and many later said that it was actually fairly miraculous. The security forces later attempted to ascertain whether the bomb was thrown from the car, or, more likely, had been hidden there and set off remotely.
"When the bomb went off," Rav Shnerb continued, "everything was suddenly all black, sticky with soot. Dvir yelled, 'Abba!' and I yelled, 'Rina, Rina!' I went to her and after just a few seconds, I saw there was nothing to do for her. I'm a medic in the army, and Dvir, too, is in a medics course. We saw there was nothing to do and we simply strengthened each other."
"From the very beginning, Dvir functioned perfectly. Amazing. He told me to call Magen David Adom, and I did, even as we held each other and tried to comfort each other when we saw that Rina was no longer with us. We said that we would come out of this with strength and would not give in to despair."
"I held Rina and kissed her. I told her that we were with her and wouldn't leave her."
Dvir was actually wounded more seriously than his father, and his injuries were described at first as being "moderate to critical." His condition has improved over the past few days.
"Dvir was bleeding pretty heavily," Rav Shnerb said, "but still, he told me to take off my clothes so that it would be easier for the medics to treat us. He also said, 'Abba, don't tell Ima straight out about Rina, so that she won't get a big shock.'… I wanted to make a tourniquet for him, and so I used his tzitzit, which was the longest thing we had. In the ambulance they told us that that was what saved him… G-d saved us; Rina absorbed the entire explosion, shielding us.
Rav Shnerb added, "It was clear to us that she had not suffered; she looked serene. It took a while for the rescue forces to reach us and we had a lot of time to part from her. I told G-d, 'we really love You.' She was a true Martyr for G-d, and died for the sanctification of G-d's Name. We believe that she wants us to be strong and strengthen the Jewish People."
He also related that on their way to the spring, "Dvir said that since he's taking this medics course, I should ask him questions on the topic to help him review. The questions we discussed had to do with tourniquets, when and how to put them on - and then a minute later that's exactly what I did for him."
Rav Shnerb participated in Rina's funeral from his hospital bed by phone, telling the large crowd of mourners, "I want to give strength to myself and to all of us, and to say here that we are not despairing. We are trying to be strong in Torat Yisrael, the Land of Israel, and the Nation of Israel – and Rina believed in this as well."