Beth Jacob Congregation in Oakland is raising money to support a family in Israel whose three children were killed Sunday by an Iranian missile strike in Beit Shemesh. The children were cousins of a staff member at the Modern Orthodox synagogue.
Yaakov, 16, Avigail, 15, and Sara, 13, were killed March 1, just before Purim, while sheltering in a synagogue. The teens’ parents and younger sister Rahel survived the attack.
The surviving family members were in Jerusalem Thursday where the mother was being treated in the hospital for light injuries, according to Rabbi Gershon Albert, Beth Jacob’s senior rabbi.
Beit Shemesh is a small mixed haredi and Modern Orthodox enclave about 30 minutes west of Jerusalem. Nine people were killed and more than 40 were injured in the strike, making it the deadliest by Iran so far in this war.
The failure to intercept the missile is under investigation by the Israeli Air Force, according to the Times of Israel. Although air defense systems were activated in the area, the Iron Dome interceptors failed to shoot down the missile.
The fundraiser for the Biton family had brought in about $10,000 as of Thursday to help the family rebuild their home, which was located next to the synagogue and destroyed in the attack.
Rabbi Albert says the congregation raises money for those in need every Purim, but this year the community felt like this was an opportunity “to fulfill the mandate of being there with the Jewish people in their moment of need.”
“Israel is a small place, and the Jewish community is a small community,” he said. “It felt like it was a moment for us to support our family, which is our staff person, but also the Jewish people in the way that we were connected to them through this member of our community.”
The Beth Jacob staff member wishes to remain anonymous. The campaign will remain open for another week and all proceeds will go to the Biton family.