Kibbutz Eshbal held a memorial service for the victims of the tragedy on Mount Meron last week. They released the following statement:
All of us on Kibbutz Eshbal were shocked and grieved to hear about the tragedy at Mount Meron on Friday morning. What started as a joyous religious celebration ended with the loss of 45 lives and over 150 people injured. When the students from the Eshbal Boarding School came back from a weekend at home, they decided to hold a memorial ceremony on Eshbal in memory of the victims. The students from the Eshbal Boarding School invited the whole Eshbal community to the ceremony. They read touching passages expressing loss, solidarity, and a hope for a society in which there is a higher value to human life and precautions are taken to avoid such tragedies from happening again. Naomi, a student in 11th grade, wrote:
"I don’t want this reality.
I don’t want another terrible incident and then for everything to go back to normal a week later.
I don't want human life to go to waste for no reason.
I don't want to live in a reality were a 9 year old child is crushed to death.
It is such a travesty that this event had to happen for people to open their eyes and finally see the importance of safety precautions and the value of human life.
The festival in Arad.
The tragedy in Nahal Tzafit.
These tragedies prove how easily people undermine consequences. This is human life!
I want to be part of a society that values me, that values those that are close to me, that values our lives.
If you destroy one life, you destroy a world. If you save one life, you save an entire world.
I am writing this in memory of the 45 worlds that were lost."
Our hearts go out to those who lost family and friends. Like Naomi wrote, we at Eshbal will continue fighting for a society that puts a higher value on human life, that knows to take responsibility for all its citizens.
May their memories be a blessing.
