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National day of mourning in Israel for Mt. Meron victims

Home PageOur ImpactnewsNational day of mourning in Israel for Mt. Meron victims

What started as a joyous celebration turned into a heart-wrenching calamity on Lag Ba’omer night, in what has been called the worst peacetime tragedy in modern Israeli history.  45 people, at least ten of them children and teens, were crushed to death during the traditional torch lighting ceremony at the grave of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai on Mount Meron, and over 150 were wounded. According to witnesses, the incident was caused by the fact that some people fell down stairs leading out of a narrow passageway, which was packed by hundreds of worshippers trying to exit the site. As the crowd surged forward, those who had fallen were trampled and asphyxiated.     Funerals were held late Friday afternoon and resumed on Saturday night. May 2 has been declared a national day of mourning in Israel.

Please join Keren Hayesod, The Jewish Agency for Israel and others around the world  at 1 pm ET / 10 am PT / 8 pm Israel time, for a moment of silence as we come together as one Jewish people to mourn and honor those who lost their lives and express solidarity with their families.


Photo Credit: Yedioth Ahronoth

We wish a speedy recovery to the wounded and send deepest condolences to the families of the victims. 

  • Ariel Ahdut, 21; student at Yesodot HaTorah yeshiva in Tel Aviv
  • Rabbi Yisrael Alnakvah, 24, of Beit Shemesh; a father of two
  • Avrohom Daniel Ambon, 21, of Argentina; student at Yeshivas Heichal Yitzchak in Jerusalem
  • Moshe Ben-Shalom, 20, of Bnei Brak, Israel; student at Yeshivat Ponavezh
  • Rabbi Moshe Bergman, 24; student at the Mir Yeshiva in Jerusalem
  • Rabbi Yonoson Chevroni of Givat Shmuel, Israel
  • Yedidya Chayut, 13, of Bnei Brak, Israel
  • Eliyahu Cohen, 16, of Beitar Ilit, Israel; student at Yeshivas Heichal Avraham
  • Rabbi Simcha Bunim Diskind, 23, of Beit Shemesh
  • Chen Doron, 41, of Holon
  • Moshe Mordechai Elchad-Scharf, 12, of Jerusalem
  • Yosef Dovid Elchad-Scharf, 18, of Jerusalem
  • Moshe Natan Englander, 14, of Jerusalem
  • Yehoshua Englander, 9, of Jerusalem
  • Mordechai Yoel Fekete, 23
  • Yedidya Fogel, 22, of Givat Shmuel; student at Yeshivas Hatziyonit Hadatit
  • Elazar Gefner, 52, of Jerusalem
  • Rabbi Shragi Gestetner, 35, of Monsey, N.Y.
  • Rabbi Eliezer Mordechai Goldberg, 37, of Beitar Illit
  • Rabbi Yosef Greenbaum, 22, of Haifa
  • Rabbi Eliezer Tzvi Joseph, 26, of Kiryas Joel, Monroe, N.Y.
  • Nachman Kirschbaum, 15, of Beit Shemesh
  • Rabbi Shmuel Tzvi Klagsbald, 34, of Beitar
  • Menachem Knoblowitz, 22, of Brooklyn, N.Y.
  • Yossi Kohn, 21, of Cleveland, Ohio; student at Mir Yeshiva in Jerusalem
  • Eliezer Yitzchok Koltai, 13, of Jerusalem; formerly of Passaic, N.J.
  • Rabbi Dovid Krause, 33, of Beit Shemesh, Israel
  • Shlomo Zalman Leibovitch, 19, of Tzefat; student at Knesset Yehezkel Yeshiva
  • Yosef Yehuda Levi, 17, of Rechasim
  • Moshe Levy, 14, of Bnei Brak
  • Yosef Mastorov, 26, of Ramle Israel; student at Yeshiva Rinah Shel Torah in Carmiel
  • Rabbi Shimon Matlon, 37, of Beitar Ilit; teacher in Talmud Torah Chanichei Hayeshivos
  • Yishai Me’ulam, 17, of Rechasim
  • Nachman Daniel (Doni) Morris, 19, of Teaneck N.J.; student at Sha’alavim
  • Chaim Rock, 18, of Beit Shemesh, Israel; student at Yeshivas Mir-Brachfeld in Modi’in Ilit
  • Yehuda Leib Rubin, 27, of Beit Shemesh
  • Rabbi Chaim Ozer Seller, 24, of Jerusalem
  • Elkanah Shilah, 29, of Jerusalem
  • Rabbi Chanoch Slod, 52, of Ashdod
  • Dov Steinmetz, of Montreal; student at Mir Yeshiva in Jerusalem
  • Yaakov Elchanan Strakovsky, 20, of Elad, Israel; student at Yeshiva Be’er Yisrael
  • Yosef Amram Tauber, of Monsey, N.Y., student at Yeshivas Brisk in Jerusalem
  • Rabbi Ariel Tzadik, 56, of Jerusalem
  • Rabbi Moshe Tzarfati, 65, of Jerusalem
  • Rabbi Menachem Asher Zakbach, 24, of Kiryat Sefer

May they be comforted among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem

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