Feb 25, 2007 - The body of Erez Levanon, 42, of Bat Ayin in the Gush Etzion settlement bloc, stabbed to death, was found in a wadi near the Palestinian village of Beit Ummar, north of Halhul.
Levanon had been reported missing late Sunday afternoon by a friend who was waiting to travel with him to Tel Aviv. At about 10 P.M., Palestinians reported to the Palestinian security authorities that a man's body had been seen between the settlement of Bat Ayin West in Gush Etzion and the Palestinian village of Beit Ummar. He sustained stab wounds all over his body and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Eliyahu Mendelovitch, a neighbor of the victim, said that the murder took place within what is defined as the municipal boundary of Bat Ayin, approximately 400 meters from the last house of the town. According to Mendelovitch, who was in the past a member of the Bat Ayin civilian security unit, the killers most likely waited in ambush for their victim, as Levanon regularly went into the same spot in the woods at the same hour every day to meditate, as is the custom of those affiliated with the Breslov Hassidic sect. There he also wrote his music. His friend, Rabbi Michi Yossefi, said that Levanon was apparently murdered while praying at his usual spot.
Levanon was the sexton of the Breslov synagogue in Bat Ayin. He was also a songwrriter and musician, based on the teachings of Rabbi Nahman of Breslov. Rabbi Yossefi said that Erez had produced many songs, and fellow students had encouraged him to release a disk, which he recorded with his band.
Ruth Rafael, secretary of Bat Ayin, described Erez as a modest man who went everywhere with his guitar. He gave lectures on Hassidism combined with music in the Tel Aviv area. He and his friends were also active in setting up Bayit Yehudi (Jewish House) soul centers across India. He himself manned such houses in recent summers.
Erez Levanon was buried in the Kfar Etzion cemetery. He is survived by his wife, Dafna, and three children - a son, 11, and 7-year-old twins, son and daughter.