JERUSALEM (JTA) — Hundreds gathered in the West Bank community of Itamar to mark the first yahrzeit for the five slain members of the Fogel family.
A beit midrash, or study hall, was dedicated Wednesday to the memory of parents Udi Fogel, 36, and Ruth Fogel, 35, and their children, Yoav, 11; Elad, 4; and Hadas, 3 months. During the dedication, a Torah scroll was brought into the new building.
Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin, Interior Minister Eli Yishai and other Knesset members attended the ceremony. Rivlin called for more building in the West Bank, saying "We don’t need excuses to build in the land of Israel.”
In a letter of condolence to the family, Israeli President Shimon Peres wrote, "The year that has passed since that shocking day cannot dull, even a little, the awful pain, the yearning and the sorrow."
Three of the Fogel children survived the stabbing attacks on the 6th of Adar last year, which corresponds to March 11. Two were sleeping in a side bedroom and were not discovered, and a daughter was out of the house at the time of the killings. She came home to discover the bodies.
Two young Palestinian men each were sentenced to five consecutive life sentences for the murders.
At least 20 babies born this year are namesakes to the dead members of the family, Ynet reported.
