One of those very "Israeli things"

It's very common in Israel that communities are named after murdered (and dead by natural means) Israelis and Jews. From my livingroom windows I see Shvut Rachel, a vibrant yishuv, community of young families, which was established hours after Rachella Druk's murder. All of the first caravans were transported on a path which began from my neighborhood, near my house eastwards.

At first I had trouble looking at it, since it was such a permanent reminder that Rachella was no longer alive.

There's also Givat Asaf, the T-junction to Beit El, named after Asaf Hershkowitz. I wait there for rides to Beit El. Many kibbutzim are also named after the dead and murdered. But this isn't a geography-history lesson.

Last night, after our traditional Yom Ha'atzma'ut, Independence Day Barbque at my cousin's in Neve Ne'eman (Hod Hasharon), they drove us to Ariel, where we continued home by "tremping," hitching. A couple of minutes after we were let off, a young couple pulled up going to "Tzomet Shiloh," the Shiloh junction, which I realized meant Givat Harel. The road to Givat Harel is across from our road.

Givat Harel was established after Arab terrorists murdered Harel Bin Nun, middle son, of our Rabbi Elchanan and his wife, Malka. Harel had been living in Yitzhar, in the Shomron. He and Shlomo Leibman were doing a security patrol there, when they were brutally attacked and murdered by Arab terrorists. His older brothers established Givat Harel, in his memory, after the murder.

There was something I was very tempted to say to the young couple, though I controlled myself, since I wasn't sure if they really wanted to know: Our daughter was Harel's Bnai Akiva madricha, youth leader. So for us, he was one of the local kids. For that couple, he was probably a legendary figure, and I figured that I shouldn't tamper with that.