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.
