It is impossible to move on after seeing these photos, of the Hamad children who were murdered yesterday, Asher and Yaakov Plai.
It is difficult to explain to outsiders what it is to be an ultra-orthodox child. A combination of unimaginable innocence and childish cuteness that has not yet been spoiled by the big world. And these are two perfect pictures that capture it.
All the ultra-Orthodox nuances are here. The shy smile, because the act of being photographed is not everyday, so that photographers try to smile. But don’t smile too much, because smiling too much is not pretty.
The boy with the “weekday shirt” buttoned up, which is also worn at sea, on vacation. A faded, oversized shirt that has already passed from child to child and will continue to do so.
And the second child, in a photo that appears to be taken from an event. Sweater on a white shirt. Even at an age where a sweater with drawings is allowed, not a plain sweater and that’s it. that the collar is carelessly arranged. A solemnity that comes to remind that in the end it’s not about the clothes, but about the event. Children whose light and goodness breaks through the screen.
I grew up in the Ramot neighborhood. In fact, at the intersection of the attack, there was the Talmud Torah that I studied in, until the 5th grade. Nothing has changed there in the last 30 years. A gravel lot with a bus stop that serves those leaving Jerusalem via Route 443. Although Ramot is in Jerusalem, the attacks of the 1990s skipped us. The feeling in the neighborhood was safe.
In 1990 there was the kidnapping and murder of Ronen Kermani and Lior Tobol, who were kidnapped at the Ramot intersection and their bodies were found in the forest, between Ramot and Beit Hanina. But inside the neighborhood, there was no bus explosion and no stabbing attack and no shooting spree. Everything was very close, but also very far.
This was an innocent childhood, like the Falim’s. Every day we go home to Talmud Torah. Talmud Torah, home. Occasionally weddings, bar mitzvahs, Shabbats, special events.
From the websites I learned that the Pali family was on their way to Bnei Brak to marry a groom in Bnei Brak. They must have been excited since the morning. Rushed from Haydar back home on the short Friday to take a shower, put on a white shirt with a sweater over it, shine shoes, to arrive before Shabbat in Bnei Brak. They stood there at the station, rolling the gravel with their shoes. Enjoy the game and be careful not to get your Shabbat clothes dirty. They were consumed with their curious and innocent eyes on the road to see when the bus was coming, until the death car arrived. And that’s it. to the mountain of rest.
There have been many atrocities in recent years. It’s hard to contain. I got used to how discouraging and hopeless everything is. But this thing, you can’t get used to it. To two children, between 6 and 8, who are standing at a bus stop, and another person full of hatred looks at them and says these children, in Shabbat clothes – these are my victims, these are my revenge on the Jewish people, it is impossible to understand.
This horror is not far away. She is here, near the house. in Jerusalem Sometimes it is not perceived that the sun will rise tomorrow as well. And even tomorrow their friends for Talmud Torah will get up in the morning, take the schoolbag, arrange the shirt and tassel and march to the buildings on Mintz Street. Buses will stop at this station tomorrow as well, and in another month we will be forgotten.
Forgetting is a natural thing, but sometimes it is also so absurd. How can you forget 2 such small children, these pictures with these smiles.