Family buries Esther Horgan, mother of six, who was brutally murdered by a Palestinian terrorist.
By Yakir Benzion, United With Israel
On Tuesday, dozens of family and friends buried Esther Horgan, a mother of six who was brutally murdered in an apparent Palestinian terror attack while she went for a jog in the woods near her home in the community of Tal Menashe in northern Samaria.
Horgan, 52, left her home Sunday afternoon and when she failed to return, a massive search party found her body after midnight with clear signs of a violent attack. Security forces are still searching for her killer.
Her husband Benjamin and their six children shed tears as they eulogized a mother who was a best friend to her children and a source of joy and energy to all around her.
“My beloved wife, for 30 years we walked together,” Benjamin said, reported Ynet. “On Sunday you went alone and never returned. How can words express the breadth and width of the joy of life and the love of people that you had? You built a glorious home and we still had so many plans.”
“You enticed me to get close to nature so we moved to the Galilee. Two years later we came here to Tal Menashe, the heart of Israel that you had fallen in love with,” he said.
The rabbi of the community, Reuven Uziel, recalled how he had eaten Shabbat dinner with the family.
“I could never, not for a minute, think that would be our last time together. You were a loving person, full of happiness and smiles. Your murderers would never succeed in polluting the Land of Israel that will remain pure and holy, as will you,” Rabbi Uziel said. “We know your joy will stay with us. I know you are present here now. I am sure if you could, you would tell a joke. I can see your smile. Go in peace. Rest in peace.”
Esther’s daughter Avigail called her “the best mother in the world. Where are you now Mommy? A woman so full of light. I grieve that you will not be there to dance at my wedding or know the grandchildren I will bring. I know you will always be with us,” she said.
“My mother is my best friend. She came to visit me at the end of the world, in Australia. Where are you now, mother?” their daughter Odelia said. “I am sorry that you will not dance at my wedding.”