Husband of slain Israeli mother of 6 urges families to adopt

JERUSALEM (JTA) — The husband of Dafna Meir, a mother of six who was stabbed to death by a Palestinian assailant in her West Bank home, urged people not to be afraid to adopt.

Natan Meir wrote a Facebook post early Friday morning reflecting on the first day of first grade for one of his foster sons. Prior to going to school, he took the boy to visit his foster mother’s grave.

Dafna Meir, 38, was a mother of four and foster mother of two young children who was stabbed to death in January at the entrance of her home. She was fighting off her attacker in what is believed to have been an attempt to save three of her children in the house.

“Yesterday I took this wonderful boy to mommy’s grave, for the first time since the murder that took place before his very eyes,” Meir wrote on Facebook. “The grave of a mother who chose him to be her son, and who in her final moments fought the terrorist and saved him.”

He described how the boy tried to move the gravestone in order to help his mother get out.

“I think God shed many tears yesterday. I did too. This child is so innocent. He just wants mommy to read him another story. So simple, yet so impossible,” Meir wrote.

He said his children have helped him to cope with the brutal murder of his wife.

“The essence of evil visited my home eight months ago. A moment of evil and afterwards a river of tears, pain and longing,” Meir wrote. “While on the other hand, the best part of the world is in my house every day, every hour. Innocence and purity that never ends. Difficult and challenging work that is an incalculable privilege. If you’re looking for love, take a child. There are a lot of children who are waiting for a loving family.”

Meir told the Ynet news website that after he posted the Facebook message, he received a call from a family that decided they wanted to adopt and called to ask him for guidance. He said he was pleased that the post “accomplished something.”