Project Mitzvah : The Shmuel HaNavi Bus Bombing On August 19, 2003

Dear Followers,

Today, I am visiting with my great-grandma Goldie and with her company I am researching the bus bombing that Shira and her family were involved in. It was August 19, 2003 and Shira was 1.5 years old. She and the rest of her family were on their way home from the Western Wall in Jerusalem and were on bus #2 when a Palestinian suicide bomber disguised himself as an Orthodox Jew and set off a bomb killing himself and eighteen other people who were a mix of children and adults. The victims ranged in age 3 months to age 73. There was also over 110 injured and due to some injuries, some did not survive.

Hamas, a terrorist organization in Gaza had claimed responsibility for the attack. August 19, 2003 in the Jewish calendar is the month of Elul. Elul is the month of selihot. The week before Rosh Hashanah, Jews recite special penitential prayers. That is prayers for forgiveness. As I think about Shira, we are coming upon Rosh Hashanah and I want to wish everyone a Happy and Sweet New Year!

Luckily, Shira and her family all survived but, out of her two parents and four other siblings, she was hurt the most. As I said before, she still gets surgeries from the accident because she has shrapnel which is the metal from the bomb in her skin.

Hope you have a Happy New Year,

Samantha