Mordechai Schijveschuurder

Aug 9, 2001 - Mordechai (Moti) Schijveschuurder, 43, of Neria, was one of 15 people killed in a suicide bombing in the heart of Jerusalem, inside a crowded pizza restaurant.

Carrying the explosives in a guitar case, the terrorist entered the Sbarro pizzeria at the corner of King George Avenue and Jaffa Road in downtown Jerusalem just before 2 p.m. The 5 kg.-10 kg. bomb, which was packed with nails, screws, and bolts, completely gutted the restaurant, which was full of lunchtime diners.

Among the other victims were Mordechai's wife Tzira, 41, and children Ra'aya, 14, Yitzhak, 4, and Hemda, 2. Two other daughters were injured in the attack. They had come to spend the day in Jerusalem, to relax from the tension of frequent shootings near their home in Neria, a community in Samaria. Three older brothers who did not join the family outing identified the bodies.

Mordechai Schijveschuurder was born in Amsterdam to a long-established Dutch Jewish family, who had lived in the Netherlands for 400 years. He immigrated to Israel in 1977 and studied at the Ponevitz Yeshiva in Bnei Brak. He met Tzira in Israel, and they were married in 1978. Alongside his religious studies, Mordechai studied economics at Bar Ilan University and later managed a chemical import business. The family later moved to Jerusalem, and in 1994 to Neria.

Mordechai Schijveschuurder was buried in Jerusalem, along with his wife and three children.

Memorial website for the Schijveschuurder family:
http://fam.schijveschuurder.com/motti/memory-pigua.htm