Columbus, OH – Family, friends and community members of Columbus remembered today the two children murdered in Israel by their father last week.
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A funeral was held today for Sara Levy, 10, and her 11-year-old brother, Yishai Levy, at Congregation Beth Jacob with approximately 300 people to remember the kindness of the children and their effect on others around them reports the Columbus Dispatch (http://bit.ly/SVk7Q3).
Rabbi Avi Goldstein remembered Sara as a “special, vivacious, intuitive girl” and Yishai as a boy with a beautiful smile. They were both remembered for their love of animals and board games.
The children, who were born in Israel, immigrated with their mother, Karen Cowgill-Levy, to the United States in 2011. Sara loved Project Runway, and her brother wished to play for the NBA someday –but if that didn’t work out, he also loved architecture.
They attended Columbus Torah Academy, where Sara had just finished fourth grade and Yishai had completed fifth.
The children went to Israel June 11 to visit their father, who stabbed them in his home. Police said he confessed to killing them and was arrested soon after.
During the funeral, a friend read a letter written to the children’s mother by the Woman to Woman shelter in Jerusalem. Cowgill-Levy had previously stayed at the shelter with the children. The letter stated Cowgill-Levy was courageous for taking the children on a path, “from chaos and towards harmony.”
Terrible no words
May the family not know of any bad they should have only happiness and simchos
baruch dayan haemes. heartbreaking.
Too terrible. My heart breaks for their mother & family. Nothing more to say.
The Columbus Jewish Federation should never have notified the Columbus Dispatch to be present at the funeral. A funeral should be a dignified event, without the news media being present.This horrible tragic event was broadcast all of the wire services, and all of the cable tv, network tv, and print media last week, when it was first reported. What was the point in having this story printed again in The Columbus Dispatch? The Columbus Dispatch has never been a friend to Columbus Jewry, or to Eretz Yisrael. A story such as this will further stir up the flames of anti-Semitism, both locally and nationally. I can just envision the gentiles in Columbus and elsewhere whispering to each other “Look what the Jews do to their children”. In summary, the dead should have been buried in peace and dignity, without the story being broadcast all over the news media, both locally and nationally.
To Mr. Kaufman- Thank you for agreeing with me, that the presence of the media at the levaya was inappropriate and offensive. I couldn’t agree more. However, regarding Columbus, Ohio, I can tell you from personal experience that anti-Semitism is alive and well in that town. Incidents such as motorists honking their horns at and yelling out of their car windows, at Yidden walking to and from Shul on Shabbos and Yom Tov, have been common place. Also, the painting of swastikas on Shuls, and in areas close to Shuls have occurred. An incident also occurred involving setting off a smoke bomb at a Rabbi’s house. In addition, people have walked by the window of the local Kollel, and grin at the people putting on Tephillen. I remember another incident when I was walking home from Shul, that some gentile started engaging in profanity from his car, because he was upset that car’s were parked in front of a Shul, and he couldn’t proceed in his lane. However, a few blocks away at a church, there were also cars blocking the street. He didn’t curse at the church goers, but only at the Yidden. Last, the Columbus Dispatch has been hostile to local Jews, and to EY for decades.