10,000 dead from Corona in Israel: The story of the people behind the numbers

Esther Bitton immigrated from Morocco and helped establish Kiryat Shmona, Michi in the report was an outstanding farmer, Eli Shiraz contracted just before his daughter's wedding and Ron Geffen was a poet who fought in the flotilla.

The death toll from Corona has crossed the ten-thousand mark: these are the personal stories of some of them

Eli Ashkenazi, Yoav Itiel and Uri Sela

21/02/2022

Monday, 21 February 2022, 13:03 Updated: Tuesday, 22 February 2022, 07:56

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"A nice and active person" - in the nursing home where the elderly man who died from Corona was infected, separate from their friend (Photo: Roni Kanfo, edited by: Assaf Drori)

10,000 dead in Israel.

Funeral of the dead from Corona (Photo: Flash 90, Jonathan Zindel)

Two years ago, the same mysterious disease that left China and spread to Israel began to spread around the world.

Among the first patients in Israel were the residents of the Nofim nursing home in Jerusalem.

Aryeh Even, 88, a resident of the place, was the first to die of coronary heart disease in Israel.

Even, a Holocaust survivor, immigrated to Israel in 1949 and established a family here.

He left four children, 18 grandchildren and a great-grandchild.

For a week and a half he was hospitalized at Shaare Zedek Hospital.

"We are sorry that he spent his last days and moments with his family members prevented from being by his side," his family members said then in pain.

In the early days of the disease in Israel, only the medical staff could access patients.

"We felt a blow to the heart when we heard about his death," said Zvika Levy, one of the occupants of the house at the time.

Since the death of the first Israeli from Corona, Even, who died on March 20, more than 9,999 names have been added to the list of deaths from the virus in Israel.

They were found dead in five different waves, including the current wave which shows clear signs of decline.

Ten thousand people who before breathing their last breath saw their lovers behind masks and robes.

This is the personal story of some of them.

He is survived by 4 children, 18 grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Aryeh Even (Photo: official website, official website)

65 years ago, Esther Bitton immigrated with her family from Morocco and arrived in Kiryat Shmona.

Lived 65 years on Trumpeldor Street.

There in the small apartment she raised eight children and with her husband set up a successful restaurant.

"She was an amazing mother. A strong, kind-hearted, smart woman who would raise a family to glory," said her daughter, Shoshi.

Esther Bitton passed away last week.

She died in the corona ward at Ziv Hospital in Safed.

Despite the severe restrictions taken on the corona ward, her daughters asked to be allowed to enter and be with her in her final moments.

Until now, the family still doubts that she was indeed ill in Corona.

"That's not how we wanted to say goodbye to our good mother," said daughter Shoshi in pain.

"It's a hard way to say goodbye to a loved and close person, behind all the masks and robes. True, she knew we were, by touch and voice. After all, she raised us, she feels us. But I tell everyone: do not come to the Corona ward, even if it is time to say goodbye He lied to you, do whatever it takes at home. This is

a

terrible way to say goodbye.

Carnage.Tens of thousands of people who before breathing their last breath saw their lovers behind masks and robes.

It has been two years since the corona plague broke out in our lives and shook them.

Life today is different from those we knew before February 2020, but for thousands of Israeli families it has also left behind pain and loss.

During these two years the disease also took with it their loved ones;

"I feel him enveloping me."

Eli Shiraz (Photo: Courtesy of the family)

Like Esther Bitton, who was one of the founders of Kiryat Shmona and planted her roots in it, so was Michael (Michi) in the report;

He grew up in the Yad Eliyahu neighborhood and with his friends from the Nahal nucleus who fought in the Yom Kippur War in the Golan Heights, established the Moshav Avnei Eitan near the border with Syria, named after the friends who lost the war

. Peach, plum and pear. He is also considered a leading professional in the cultivation of corn, peas,

onions

and beans and was the representative of the growers in industrial plants for processing agricultural produce on behalf of the division workers' organization. The

corona arrived and interrupted everything.The

deceptive disease shook the lives of entire families from end to end - one moment the person approaching you is living a normal life and suddenly begins to fade quickly.

This extreme and cruel transition befell Eli Shiraz who was discovered blue in Corona the day before the wedding of his daughter, Topaz Shiraz.

"He went to the hospital the day before the day I was supposed to get married," the daughter said a year ago.

While staying at the hotel before the wedding, her father felt bad.

He was taken to a hospital and found to be in Corona.

The wedding was postponed and the family went into isolation.

For two and a half weeks he was hospitalized and his condition deteriorated.

Despite the doctors' efforts, he died at the end of a stubborn battle with the virus.

Half a year later Topaz married.

"He is very much missing. I feel him enveloping me in everything we have been through since. I do not know how I will do it," the daughter said.

"Glad he got to live his life to a respectable age."

Ron Geffen and his grandson (Photo: Courtesy of the family)

Tzemach David from Afula still managed to complete the construction of a kitchenette in the Heichal Habib synagogue.

For many years he worked at the Tadiran factory in the city and after he retired, he founded an association that established the synagogue in the western neighborhood of Afula.

About a year and a half ago, after he finished building the kitchenette and transferring all the necessary payments, he fell ill in Corona and was hospitalized at Haemek Hospital in Afula.

His condition deteriorated and he was put to sleep and respirated.

"See that the body suffers," said his son-in-law, Rami Yosef.

"His soul was imprisoned in the body. At the end of the great Hoshana prayer he was called to the house of his world," he added in pain.

The poet and musician Ron Geffen, a member of Kibbutz Hahotrim, died three weeks ago and was buried in the kibbutz's small cemetery and like many of the fifth wave victims died "with Corona" after suffering from a severe "background disease" for a long time.

Was 65 at the time of his death.

"The corona was the straw that broke the camel's back," says his only son, Shahar, a rowing member and engineer at Intel.

"It's very sad but not tragic. This is life. I'm glad he got to live his life to a respectable age. He spared himself twenty years of living with a body that betrays you. When he was in the Army in the Navy then in a shooting accident almost killed. Tragic is if he was killed at twenty. "On the other hand, he lived a full life, loved to do things his way, loved his freedom, managed to work in a profession he loved, managed to create, write the songs, be a father and be a grandfather."

"He was hospitalized in Hillel Yaffe due to a deterioration in pancreatic cancer that was discovered in him, transferred to Hadassah for surgery, doctors saved his life there after a complication, from there he was transferred to the French hospital in Jerusalem and at the end of November we transferred him to Nof Hagefen in Haifa.

A week before his death there was an outbreak of corona in another ward so the visits were reduced for everyone.

He was vaccinated twice which did not really help, because his immune system was already very weak due to the treatments he underwent and he became infected.

We kept talking on the phone.

We had a lot of conversations about death.

He told me that he looks at life day after day, that he understands the doctors' gloomy predictions and that every extra day for him is a bonus.

He has had a difficult last year who was less independent and was dependent on close friends and the medical staff.

Glad he got to see the birth of a grandson.

Did not lose his vitality, did not go into depression and the things he would say before the disease so also reacted to the disease.

On Thursday evening, January 27, he was transferred to Rambam with internal bleeding.

And a few hours later he passed away.

He had a low blood stasis which is typical of corona patients and this of course affected the condition.

We will never know exactly what died.

Probably all together. "

Yigal Sri-Levi was a successful theater actor.

About two decades ago, he repented and moved from Tel Aviv to his hometown of Jerusalem.

There, he died this month after contracting the corona virus, at the age of 78. "He was a beloved uncle," said his nephew, Matti Sri, an actor too.

"I did not see him for a long time and could not be at his funeral because I had to be in isolation. He was a generous, funny, warm and loving person. Through him my love for theater, acting ignited in me. He prepared me for auditions for a military band.

Before he repented he was an actor For a long time, at the Haifa Theater, at the Khan Theater, he was a member of a band and played in children's plays, and starred in the first play directed by Nola Chelton, who also died two months ago. 20-15 years ago he repented and chose a different path. I would say he was a sensitive and kind-hearted person. "

Died next to his brother.

Jackie Levy (Photo: Courtesy of the family)

Jackie and Maxim Edri, brothers from Dimona, passed away within two hours last November.

Adele, Jackie's daughter, a social activist whose struggles are known throughout the country paid tribute to her father: "My beloved father gave my soul to the Creator, exactly two hours after his dear brother. In their lives and deaths they did not part," she wrote.

"We love you and will always be loved. A warrior of justice, a brave heart. My man for special missions. You were and did so much for so many people, but for me you were just the best grandfather in the world."

Tzemach David from Afula still managed to complete the construction of a kitchenette in the Heichal Habib synagogue.

For many years he worked at the Tadiran factory in the city and after he retired, he founded an association that established the synagogue in the western neighborhood of Afula.

About a year and a half ago, after he finished building the kitchenette and transferring all the necessary payments, he fell ill in Corona and was hospitalized at Haemek Hospital in Afula.

His condition deteriorated and he was put to sleep and respirated.

"See that the body suffers," said his son-in-law, Rami Yosef.

"His soul was imprisoned in the body. At the end of the great Hoshana prayer he was called to the house of his world," he added in pain.

Wael and Avthael Zoabi (Photo: courtesy of the family)

In February 2020, Taibe mourned the deaths of Wael and Ibtihel Zoabi, a couple who lived in the locality, and both died within 24 hours of being infected in Corona.

Bachar Zoabi, a relative of theirs, said at the time that 48-year-old Wael and 45-year-old Avitahel had contracted the virus and after their condition worsened, they were hospitalized in the Corona ward at Haemek Hospital in Afula.

"Vaal's health began to deteriorate towards the end of the week and he died on Sunday morning," Zoabi said at the time.

He noted that "in recent days, there was an impression that Ivtihel's condition was improving, but her lungs collapsed and she died yesterday morning."

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