Israeli family who buried 3 of their children after missile attack clings to faith

JERUSALEM (AP) — Tamar Biton was in the kitchen when an explosion rocked her home in the central Israeli city of Beit Shemesh, shattering the windows and collapsing the ceiling with a boom louder than anything she had ever heard.

Making her way to what was left of a window, she saw fire and destruction everywhere, she said.

“I couldn’t find my kids, but I was sure they would be able to rescue them from underneath the rubble,” she said.

That was not to be. It took 24 hours to identify the bodies of three of her four children: Yaakov, about to celebrate his 17th birthday that evening; Avigail, 15; and Sarah, 13.

They were among nine people killed Sunday when an Iranian missile strike demolished a synagogue and homes in Beit Shemesh. Israel’s rescue services said 65 people were hospitalized in the attack, including two seriously wounded.

It was the deadliest attack on Israel, where 11 people have died, since the war began Saturday with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran. The conflict has escalated each day, affecting an additional 14 countries across the Middle East and beyond. At least 1,230 people have been killed in Iran and more than 100 in Lebanon.

Tamar Biton, husband Yitzhak and their surviving daughter, 4-year-old Rachel, are observing the Jewish week of mourning in a Jerusalem hotel where they were placed after their house was destroyed.

For hours on end, as neighbors, friends and strangers gathered around, stories poured from Tamar about her three children.

Yaakov, a natural-born leader and orator, studied at the Jewish seminary her husband ran and was known for bringing friends closer to Jewish observance. Avigail was smart, sensitive and thoughtful, and Sarah was a whirlwind of activity always helping around the house and the community.

As Tamar spoke, she lit up, remembering details of each of the children she had buried Monday in a late-night funeral at Jerusalem’s Mount of Olives cemetery, one of the holiest places Jews can be buried.

But when Tamar stopped speaking, she seemed to collapse in on herself, remembering what had happened.

Yitzhak Biton had taught a class in Jewish texts that deadly morning; his son had attended along with his best friend, 16-year-old Gavriel Ravach. Both were killed in the missile attack.

Other families also lost multiple members, including volunteer paramedic Ronit Elimelech, 45, and her mother, Sara Elimelech. Penina Cohen lost her husband, Yosef, and mother-in-law, Buria, in the attack. Her son was supposed to have celebrated his bar mitzvah, the Jewish coming of age ceremony, on Monday. Instead, he buried his father and grandmother, Cohen told Israeli President Isaac Herzog when he visited her at the hospital.

When the alarms blared to warn of an incoming missile attack Sunday afternoon, Yitzhak Biton said he decided to stay in the house, but Yaakov, Avigail and Sarah went toward the shelter under the synagogue, following Israel’s guidelines for civilians.

While Yaakov was found inside the shelter, it’s unclear whether Avigail and Sarah were able to make it in time, Tamar Biton said. The impact flattened the synagogue over the shelter and homes on several surrounding streets.

As hope for her children’s survival dimmed, Tamar Biton changed her prayers.

“I said to my husband, ‘Please let something be left of them — or do you think it’s just ash and that’s why they can’t identify them?’” she said Thursday.

Yitzhak said he tried to search for his children, despite terror at what he might find.

“They started taking out bodies, and I kept saying, ‘Where are my children? Where are my children?’ When they came and asked for a DNA sample, I knew the answer,” he said.

Both parents continue to cling to their faith, telling visitors who came to pay condolences of Yaakov’s sincerity in swearing off any kind of digital devices considered forbidden by observant Jews and their daughters’ acts of kindness.

Yitzhak Biton says he hopes to open a Jewish seminary in honor of his children, aimed at encouraging unity among Israel’s youth and countering issues driving the country apart, such as baseless hatred and negativity.

“They sanctified God’s name with their life, and also after their death, they continue sanctifying his name,” Yitzhak said, a tear rolling down his cheek.

Tamar Biton said she has been able to maintain her faith because she works to cultivate it every day.

“Faith isn’t built in a day,” she said. “Faith is a gift from God, and faith is what gives you the ability to stand in front of these challenges, these experiences, in front of these waves.”