Dei'ah veDibur - Information & Insight
  

A Window into the Charedi World

26 Iyar 5759 - May 12, 1999 | Mordecai Plaut, director Published Weekly
NEWS

OPINION
& COMMENT

HOME
& FAMILY

IN-DEPTH
FEATURES

VAAD HORABBONIM HAOLAMI LEINYONEI GIYUR

TOPICS IN THE NEWS

HOMEPAGE

News
2 Young Women Killed in Tragic Lag B'Omer Bus Accident

by Betzalel Kahn

Two passengers were killed and 52 injured in a tragic bus accident on Lag B'Omer. The bus, which had set out from the chareidi community of Beit Shemesh, was on its way to Meron. The driver lost control of the wheel at the Yokne'am junction near Haifa and crashed into an electric pole. The bus then turned over onto its roof. Two policemen patrolling the area rushed to the site and immediately began offering assistance. Ambulances and security forces arrived on the scene within moments.

The two death casualties were young women from the bnei Torah community of Beit Shemesh: Frieda Leah Mintz o"h, and Chava Raizel Acker o"h. The entire community was cast into a deep pall of mourning.

Twenty-one-year-old Frieda Leah Mintz, o"h, was the daughter of Rabbi Eliyahu Mordechai Levi, a prominent Gerrer chossid and one of the founders of the chareidi settlement of Hatzor Hagalilit. She studied in Beis Yaakov elementary school and in its seminary and was an outstanding student. Two years ago, she married Reb Yisroel Mintz, one of the prominent avreichim of the Yore De'ah kollel of the Beit Shemesh Gerrer community of Beit Shemesh.

Frieda Leah was an eishes chayil who was known for her yiras Shomayim and kindness. She worked as a rhythmics teacher in the Agudas Yisroel kindergarten in Beit Shemesh, and with her ever present smile and special warmth brought the children much joy. In his hesped, HaRav Dovid Tzvi Eliach noted that her final words were those of the brocho of shehakol nihiyeh bidvoro.

Twenty-seven-year-old Chava Raizel Acker, o"h, was the mother of four children, daughter of the well known rabbinical pleader Rabbi Nochum Bergman, and granddaughter of HaRav Gershon Shtemer. As a young girl, she studied in the institutions of the yishuv hayoshon in Yerushalayim. She married Reb Chaim Yeshaya Acker, one of the finest avreichim of the Kehillas Lelov community of Beit Shemesh.

In Beit Shemesh she was known for her many chassodim and her warm, genial manner toward everyone. She was the life- force behind the Shemiras Haloshon organization in her neighborhood. In addition to her many involvements in chessed, she completed the entire sefer of Tehillim every day.

At her levaya her husband weepingly described her goodness of heart, her many acts of chessed and her dedication to his Torah learning, which was the focal point of her life. "Love of Torah burned within her," he said.


All material on this site is copyrighted and its use is restricted.
Click here for conditions of use.