Translation by Yehoshua Siskin
Noam Raz, the special forces border patrol officer killed in Jenin last Friday will be brought to rest today at 11 a.m. on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem. Some of his friends spoke of him as follows:
- Eitan Omer: "He was always the last one to speak at any forum and did so with keen observation and wit. Everyone loved and esteemed him since he was simply the precise embodiment of what we learned in "Mesilat Yesharim" (The Path of the Just) and '"Musar Avicha" (Moral Guidance of Your Father) -- humble, modest, always the first to volunteer, loving of every person, witty, good-hearted, a mensch."
- Ilan Klein: "We met in a paramedics course of Magen David Adom. I remember how I loved to study with you because you asked me simple questions that gave me another angle on the material. I am certain that this simple approach saved many lives. When the course ended, we received paramedic license numbers. I was 1073 and you were 1074. At the scenes of horrific accidents and terrorist attacks, I was always calm when Noam was there. Rest in peace dear 1074."
- His sister-in-law Ayelet Rosenberg: "How is it possible to turn on the news and see your pictures in the headlines? You have become the public Noam, no longer our own private Noam. Father, son, brother, brother-in-law, uncle, son-in-law. A Jew in all 248 parts of your body, a farmer in every fiber of your being."
The soldier, the paramedic, the farmer, the Torah student, the family man will be brought to rest today, the 14th of Iyar, the day known as Pesach Sheini, a day in which those who did not celebrate Pesach in its proper time have a second opportunity to celebrate it, to begin anew, to be consoled and filled with new hope. May we be privileged to hear only good news.
