Lilach Kardi

Aug 19, 2003 - Lilach Kardi, 22, of Jerusalem 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.

Lilach Kardi was eight months pregnant when she was murdered. She was on her way home from the Western Wall, where she had gone to pray for an easy birth.

From the age of 12, when her father was killed in a work accident, Lilach took care of her two younger brothers and her ailing mother, who died four years ago after a long illness. After marrying her husband, Shmuel, the couple moved from Netanya to Jerusalem and adopted her youngest brother, Yosef. "She raised him and a year ago made him a bar mitzva," related an aunt.

Last year the couple had their first child. "I've lost a goodhearted woman who was full of the joy of life," eulogized her husband. "She was a simple woman, who didn't seek money or jewelry; a modest woman. I feel a great loss. I've lost Lilach and my son has lost her."

Lilach Kardi was buried next to her parents in the Netanya Cemetery. She is survived by her husband, her son, and two brothers.