Four French Jewish Terror Victims Laid to Rest in Jerusalem

The four victims of a terrorist attack at a kosher supermarket in Paris were laid to rest in Jerusalem today at a ceremony attended by thousands of mourners.

Yoav Hattab, 21, Yohan Cohen, 22, Philippe Braham, 40, and François-Michel Saada, 64, were eulogized by family and dignitaries at the Har Hamenuchot cemetery in the Givat Shaul neighborhood of the nation’s capital. Thousands, including many French-speaking Israelis, traveled by bus, train and car from around the country to attend the services.

Sephardic Chief Rabbi Yitzchak Yosef opened the ceremony by reading Psalm 130. The Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem, Rabbi Aryeh Stern, then assisted family members in the traditional kriya, or tearing, ceremony, whereby the mourner tears his shirt and recites the blessing, Baruch Dayan Haemet, “Blessed is the Righteous Judge.” The mourners then said a collective Kaddish prayer. The Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem, Rabbi Shlomo Amar, followed with the Kel Male Rachamim (“G‑d is filled with mercy”) prayer.

Family members then eulogized the departed. Phillipe Braham’s widow, Valerie, broke down in tears when she noted that her husband was “perfect” and “lived for his family.”

Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin noted in his eulogy that that the men were murdered for no other reason than the fact that they were Jewish.

“This was pure, venomous evil, which stirs the very worst of memories,” he said. “This is sheer hatred of Jews; abhorrent, dark and premeditated, which seeks to strike, wherever there is Jewish life.”

Urging European leaders to do whatever is necessary to put an end to anti-Semitic violence, Rivlin said it is “beholden upon the leaders of Europe to act, and commit to firm measures to return a sense of security and safety to the Jews of Europe—in Toulouse, in Paris, in Brussels or in Burgas,” he said.

“We cannot allow it to be the case, that in the year 2015—70 years since the end of the Second World War—Jews are afraid to walk in the streets of Europe with skullcaps and tzitzit,” added Rivlin.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also urged world leaders, particularly in the West, to take a more forceful stand against terrorism.

“These aren’t just enemies of the Jews, but all of humanity,” he said. “It’s about time that all of the civilized world unite and uproot these enemies from our midst.”

Profiles of the four victims who were laid to rest today can be found here.

Thousands from around Israel gathered at the Har Hamenuchot cemetery in Jerusalem for the burial of the four men slain by a terrorist in Paris. (Photo: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)