Easing the Pain of Chezi’s Children

My name is Tante Carrie. “Tante” means “aunt” in Yiddish. I have nieces and nephews who live in Israel, in a town ten miles outside of Jerusalem. I’m their aunt from America, Canada, England…. Well, I travel with my work as an investigative photo-journalist.

My younger brother, the father of my seven Israeli nieces and nephews, was riding on the Number 19 bus in Jerusalem on January 29, 2004. In Israel, people know the significance of the Number 19 bus, just as they know the significance of the Number 37 bus, the Dolphinarium, the Sbarro Pizza parlor, and too many other places. Those are places where Palestinian homicide bombers have killed Israeli civilians.

My brother and I grew up in Toronto. He was Scotty Goldberg then, but after he and his wife made aliyah (moved to Israel) eight years ago, he only used his Hebrew name, Yechezkel, Chezi for short.

Chezi was a newspaper columnist and a counselor who worked with troubled children. Always sensitive to others’ pain, he worked hard to help them. In fact, after Chezi died, one of the articles he wrote after a terrorist bombing stirred the conscience of the nation. In the column, which was entitled “Because, If You Don’t Cry, Who Will?,” my brother cautioned Israelis not to become numb to the suffering of the victims of terrorism. He reminded us that if we feel the pain of those around us, we will work hard to ease their anguish.

I cried after my brother died. I cried for him, for his wife, and for his seven children. I also cried for the 10 other passengers who died on the bus. Will you please write to my nieces and nephews in Israel? They miss their abba, and having new friends will ease their pain. I’ll tell you how to correspond with them, but first, let me introduce you to them.