|
|
November 5, 2004/Cheshvan 21 5765, Vol. 57, No. 10
Recovering from tragedy
STEPHANIE N. HENSCHEL
Staff Writer
As Shlomo Leibovitch sits on the comfortable couch in the Phoenix home of Libby and Paul Rosenthal, you may not know he has suffered a terrible loss - the loss of a child.
On June 17, 2003, Leibo-vitch's 7-year-old daughter Noam was killed by terrorists.
The family was attacked while driving home from Jeru-salem. As they were driving, a car drove by and riddled the vehicle with bullets.
Twelve bullets hit the car. Only one was necessary to kill Noam.
The same bullet wounded 3-year-old Shirah, shattering her wrist. The youngster had just celebrated her birthday that morning with her family.
The Leibovitch family lived in the Valley as shaliachim from 1997-2001. Leibovitch and his wife Galit were teachers at Phoenix Hebrew Academy. Noam was a student there as well.
"We got a lot of support after Noam died, was murdered," he says. "Basically, Noam lived most of her life here."
Eleven months after her death came another bitter-sweet event: the birth of a baby girl, Neria, which means, "candle of God."
"It was a strange experience for us," Leibovitch says. "All the feelings ... It's like happiness, sadness all mixed together."
Shirah is recovering, he says. Now 4, she has switched from being right-handed - the injured hand - to left-handed. But she is too young to understand what happened to her and her sister, he explains.
"For her, Noam is in the sky in heaven," he says. "We'll be walking and she'll say, 'I see her,' and wave up at the sky."
Since the attack, safety is more of a concern to Leibovitch. Before the attack, he had no problem with his oldest daughter, Hilah, 17, going to visit friends who lived over the Green Line, the boundary that divides Israel proper from the West Bank. But now, he wants to know how she's getting there, what she'll be doing and tells her to call as soon as she's reached her destination.
"I have more fear," he says. "Hopefully, it will go in time, it's not good for the children when the parents are so protecting."
As for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's disengagement plan, Leibovitch is all for it - though his wife disagrees.
"I think we have nothing to do in the Gaza Strip," he says. "It's not a place we should be."
Leibovitch and his wife work in Yemin Orde, a pluralistic youth village for disadvantag-ed and immigrant children - she as a teacher, him as deputy director. They live in the village on Mount Carmel with their four children.
The village sits near a kibbutz and artists' village. All three communities rallied together to build a room at Noam's school in her memory.
The room is brightly colored with flowers and butterflies abundant. Outside, a large mosaic depicting a butterfly flying over a garden covers one wall. Funds for the project came in part from Beth Joseph Congregation in Phoenix.
All in all, life is moving along for the Leibovitch family. He says he wants to thank the Jewish community for all the support they received.
"I really feel proud of the Jewish community here in the area."
Contact the writer here
The following was written by Noam Leibovitch shortly before she was killed.
I think every butterfly has a flower to guard. Sometimes I think that I am a happy, little butterfly and my job is to make everyone happy - my parents, my sisters, my brother and my friends.
But it's very hard for the butterfly to leave its flower. Could G-d let him stay longer and keep his friend and those he loves happy? If not, then the butterfly will listen from above and maybe come to visit.
What happens when the butterfly goes to heaven? The happy butterfly goes to heaven to make G-d happy...
Courtesy of Shlomo Leibovitch
|
|
