Beside my daughter's grave today

Malki and me, Jerusalem, 1993 

I spoke at the graveside Azkara ceremony today, the anniversary according to the Hebrew calendar of the day we lost our daughter Malki הי"ד to the monsters who bombed the Sbarro pizzeria. The text below is translated from the Hebrew in which I addressed the family and friends who attended.

* * *

For most, the terror attack that robbed us of our precious Malki and [her close friend] Michal is relegated to history.

But for their loved ones, it is as vivid and deeply painful as it was 21 years ago.

While at past azkarot [memorial services] we said we didn’t believe there will be any nechama [comfort, respite], this year we can declare that in fact there wasn't and isn't any.

I have been combing through old papers that were stashed away at the time of our move from another part of Jerusalem where we lived for the past thirty years to where we now live.

In the storage room, I found a collection of scores of notes that Malki had left to me, and to other members of our family, most of them tucked under the challah cover on Friday evenings.

I force myself to read a few. Each one is a fresh stab at my heart. 

Each one reminds me again of Malki's love, generosity, warmth and empathy.

Here is one from when she was little:

לאמא המקסימה!

אמא! תודה רבה על כל ההשקעה שהשקעת בי כל השנים הללו מכשהיית בהריון איתי ועעעעדדדד היום.

א - ותך אוהבת לעולמים

מ - ימך קיבלתי את כל הצרכים

א - מא אחרת לא מוצאים

אני אוהבת אותך ככה ------ הרבה.

מבתך,

מלכי

To my mag-nif-i-cent Mom!

Mommy! Thank you so much for all that you've invested in me all these years from when you were pregnant with me uuuuntil today.....

I - love you forever
F - rom you I have received all my needs
A - nother mother cannot be found!
I love you this ---- much 
From your daughter,
Malki

A couple of them remind me that she was a normal child with a full range of children's emotions including anger and resentment.

Tragically, I can't right those wrongs now. The only thing I can do for her is continue our fight to attain the elusive justice for which her blood cries out.

That travesty too is now deemed history by most others but for us it is fresh, painful and demanding of action .

Let's hope it will be rectified sooner than we anticipate.

Mourning the loss of our doctor and friend

Dr Greenfield recites one of the seven traditional blessings

under the huppah of our daughter's wedding in 2010

Dr. Geoffrey Greenfield, who was our children's pediatrician since our aliyah in 1988, passed away two weeks ago here in Jerusalem. An obituary appeared on August 10, 2022 in the Los Angeles Times.

He was unsurpassed in his devotion, medical knowledge and diagnostic skill. He was also incredibly warm, friendly and interesting. 

He never limited his conversations with us to the medical matter at hand but chatted about wide-ranging, captivating topics. Often he shared personal anecdotes. 

He related to us his vacations climbing mountain ranges in the United States. 

He told us about the concerts he organized in private homes for Russian immigrant musicians in the early years of the Soviet immigration to Israel when many of them were struggling financially. 

Geoffrey - he insisted we call him by his first name - was himself a proficient flautist and pianist.

On several occasions when our children were hospitalized, he appeared unannounced at their bedsides. 

He once brought one of our daughters who spent weeks at a time in hospital a disc of Etti Ankari's songs.

When our children reached adulthood, (actually when they were well into their twenties) he requested that they switch to a family physician which they reluctantly did. But we pleaded that he continue caring for Haya, our severely disabled child, even after she aged out of pediatric care. And he agreed.

When he retired suddenly in January 2022, all we knew was that he was having pains that prevented him from working. I emailed him immediately to convey our thanks for all he had done for us and our children and our regret that he had left his practice. He never responded. 

We later learned that immediately after retiring, his condition deteriorated and he was hospitalized for long months until he passed away.

We miss him terribly and I am certain we always will. יהי זכרו ברוך.

Tail wags dog: How does Jordan keep getting away with it?

Via Twitter

While we note our Malki's departure from this world on the 20th day of the Hebrew month of Av which this year falls on Wednesday, August 17, 2022, we mark today - August 9 - as the secular anniversary of the Sbarro bombing in which she perished.

 
It has also become the day when Arnold and I note the injustice with which we are grappling: Ahlam Tamimi, the Hamas operative responsible for the Sbarro massacre that snuffed out 15 precious Jewish lives remains... free!

She publicly boasts of her guilt or, to quote her, of "my operation". She has been indicted by the United States Department of Justice. Her extradition from Jordan, her home and refuge, has been demanded by the US under a valid 1995 extradition treaty with Jordan. She is an FBI Most Wanted Terrorist and has a $5 million reward posted for her capture.

 
Yet despite the open-and-shut nature of this case, Arnold and I find it near impossible to win the support of influencers: neither Democrats nor Republicans, neither Jews nor non-Jews, neither Americans nor Israelis. 

All are caught in the thrall of Jordan's dictator, a.k.a. King Abdullah II, whose impoverished regime refuses to extradite this monster.

 
A minor player on the global geo-political stage, under constant internal threat, hanging on to power by his fingernails and by repression ("Jordan is unfree"), Abdullah enjoys massive cash support and unadulterated reverence from all.

 
Why? 

Why is this tail able to wag the dog incessantly? Why does everyone we encounter sing his praises?

Of course, there is no shortage of lame excuses fed to us for this travesty of justice. But the truth remains elusive.

So, on this anniversary of the Sbarro massacre please join us in our grief and fury and ponder what can be done to right this egregious wrong.