WhatsappI just returned from the burial of the daughters of my friend Rabbi Leo Dee. Over ten thousand Jews came from near and far to comfort the Dee family as they buried two of their daughters, the latest Jewish victims of a terror attack by an Arab-Muslim terrorist whose sole motivation is to kill Jews, all in the name of the fake cause called “palestine”.
This is the second tragedy that our tight-knit synagogue in Efrat has experienced in the past five years since we buried my friend and neighbor Ari Fuld HY”D, murdered in a terror attack back in 2018.
Rabbi Dee and his children expressed unbelievable strength and resolve as they shared their last thoughts about Maya and Rena with the Jewish people and the world.
One of the most powerful thoughts Rabbi Dee shared was about faith. He shared a teaching of Boca Raton Rabbi Efram Goldberg who always reiterates that faith is about focusing on what we have, not focusing on what we do not have.
Rabbi Dee’s full eulogy in English
Full Funeral Service (All eulogies, burial and comforting the family procession at the end)
Rabbi Leo Dee: “Today, the Jewish people have proven that we are one. When a family in Efrat hurts, we all hurt. There is no clearer proof of our unity, Am Yisrael Chai. We have been marching through the streets of Jerusalem, and Tel Aviv with Israeli flags, arguing over whether there should be a majority of 61, 65, 70, an override clause, or no override clause, in the Supreme Court, let’s be honest, most of us have no idea what any of this means. But in three weeks’ time in Yom Hazikaron and Yom Haatzmaut, we will once again be marching side by side, all of us carrying our Israeli flags, left-wing next to the right-wing, religious next to secular, uniting against the real threat, the threat of pure evil the threat of a mad ideologically driven terrorism funded by Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, with the Kalashnikov rifle, who doesn’t care if you’re from Efrat or Tel Aviv, London or Italy. Who is prepared to destroy your children’s lives in an instant, and then we will all march as one.”
Rabbi Dee turned to the body of his older daughter, Maia, “My beautiful perfect Maya, we named you G-d’s water, and you were so many people’s friend flowing between so many different groups, out on Friday night with one group of friends and another group in our lounge on Saturday afternoon, and a third visit to a close friend on Saturday night, every week. At your Bat Mitzva just eight years ago, we tried to find a biblical character to compare you to. We realized that you were most like the matriarch Sara, that in your twelve years, you had already moved to Israel at the age of 12, left at the age of six, and came back at the age of 11, just like Sara in the Torah. Who also entered and left Israel twice. Sadly the comparison does not stop here. Sara was buried at the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, as each of the forefathers was buried with their spouse in pairs, and Maia and Rina, you will also be buried today in a double grave.”
Turning to his younger daughter, the father lamented, “My beautiful darling Rina, such a great friend, and youth leader, you were so responsible in the Ezra youth club, needed cleaning on a Friday morning, and you were the only one who turned up from your group you were there singlehandedly for three hours. People loved you and always knew they could depend on you. Less than two weeks ago, you had 20 of your girls from the youth club sleeping over at our home with your co-youth leader. Mummy and I had to find somewhere else to spend that night, the girls made so much noise and had so much fun. Rina Bina, you were considering the army in two years’ time, after seminary, you probably would have been in intelligence. You also dreamt of traveling the world, and now you are traveling to heaven. You, too, are an angel, and I know that you’re currently organizing Hashem’s youth club in Heaven.”
The girls’ sister, Keren, eulogized: “Maya, my big sister, I am taking on the job of the eldest. I will never be able to catch up to you, not even a little. Rina, my little sister, I promised that I would watch over you, and I did not succeed. I would have done everything to be in the car instead of you. We were born on the same day. We were supposed to celebrate our birthday soon, now you will always be missed.”
The sister, Tali, eulogized: “There is no picture good enough to describe you, Rina. I always see you, a year ago, we took down the wall between our rooms. We would talk about everything in the world, our connection recently got stronger. You saw the world in a smart and unique way. The world is mourning two great souls. We will go home, and it won’t be the same. Maya, I was with you for 19 years and with you, Rina, for 16, I will be with you forever.”
