Chava Rechnitzer
Aug 19, 2003 - Chava Rechnitzer, 19, of Bnei Brak was one of 23 persons murdered by a suicide bomber on a No. 2 Egged bus in the capital's Shmuel Hanavi neighborhood.
The attack took place at about 9 p.m. as the bus was making its way from the Western Wall to several religious neighborhoods. The Hamas suicide bomber, apparently disguised as a religious Jew, boarded the bus and detonated his bomb shortly afterwards. Seven of those killed were children and over 130 people were wounded.
Chava Rechnitzer was engaged to be married and had gone to the Western Wall to pray for a successful marriage. She was on her way home when she was killed.
The daughter of Rabbi Yosef Zvi Rechnitzer, a rabbinical court judge, Chava was the second daughter of 13 children. A neighbor described her as "a special girl, noble and very delicate." Another neighbor, Shira Pollack, described her as "smiling and goodhearted," noting that after her older sister's marriage she took over running the household and helped her mother, who had just given birth to her 13th child, to care for her younger siblings.
Chava was a graduate of the Beit Malka School for Girls and had just completed a year of additional study. She had recently become engaged, but hadn't yet set a date. "The Holy One, Blessed be He, did not want a date to be set for the wedding," said one of her brothers. "She was engaged, but the date kept getting put off. Perhaps this was a sign from Heaven."
Chava Rechnitzer was buried in Jerusalem. She is survived by her parents and 12 siblings.