The funeral procession of the holy Rabbi Yaakov Yisrael Shalom: Thousands of Bnei Brak residents, friends, acquaintances, family members - led by rabbis, yeshiva heads and public figures, are participating (Wednesday) in his funeral on Avraham Ben David Street in Bnei Brak, and from there to the Segula Cemetery in Petah Tikva, where he will be buried.
Rabbi Yaakov Israel, 36, a resident of the Pardes Katz neighborhood, left behind a wife and four children. He was murdered last night in the severe attack while driving near his home.
His brother-in-law, Moshe Bashari, mourned him with tears: "Dear Jacob Israel, the holy righteous one. A year and a half ago, we were about to mourn your dear father. We didn't think we would reach you so soon. You once told me that when you hear the verse, 'The blameless rock acts, for all its ways are justice,' you tremble.".
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The brother-in-law continued: "He invested in the children's education, knew what to promote in them. He did it so well. He didn't have much money, but he told his son, as soon as you finish a tractate - you will receive 1,000 shekels. He told me that it was so that the child would love the Torah, that it was worth everything to him. Yesterday I heard from your son that he accepted it upon himself to finish the Shas for the upliftment of your soul. We will help him, because you deserve it. He would come to help even at 1:00 in the morning. He had the fear of God, he knew how to steer the children towards the fear of God.".
Among those attending the funeral were MK Shas and United Torah Judaism Chairman MK Moshe Gafni.
Jonathan, his brother-in-law, told Kelman Libeskind and Assaf Lieberman on the B network this morning: "He would give his all. I don't remember him ever saying 'no' to a request or a thought. When someone in the family needs help - he's the first. Yesterday the girl asked, 'Who will take us in the car now?' He was everything, he would do everything for them, the children were very attached to him. The little son was in the car with him just a few minutes before and the girls were supposed to come too. He said he would take them, but his wife said there was school and they should go to bed already - that saved them.".
Yonatan said that they learned about Yaakov's murder from videos on social media: "We saw the video - we recognized the car and then we recognized him, that's how we knew it was him. We waited hours for an official announcement, no one announced it. The moment I saw that the terrorist looked at the car and continued on - I understood that he realized that Yaakov was already dead. When they reached the family, his wife and children, the family called us and we realized that it was final, about two hours after the incident.".
Earlier today, Rabbi Avishai David Yehezkel, 29, of Bnei Brak, who was also murdered in the attack, was laid to rest. He was buried in the Ponevezh Cemetery.
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