Mar 6, 2008 - Neria Cohen, 15, of Jerusalem was one of eight students killed when a Palestinian terrorists infiltrated the Mercaz Harav Kook yeshiva in Jerusalem and opened fire in the crowded library.
On Thursday evening, the yeshiva students - mostly teenagers - had returned from prayers. They were about to begin a party celebrating the beginning of the month of Adar - a month of joy marked by the Purim holiday. Many of the students had gathered in the yeshiva library before the party when the terrorist opened fire, killing eight and wounding 11.
Neria Cohen grew up in the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem's Old City, one of 12 children born to Ayala and Rabbi Yitzhak Cohen. His father is a rabbi at the Aish HaTorah hesder yeshiva in the Jewish Quarter, and was for many years among the heads of the Ateret Cohanim yeshiva in the Muslim Quarter. Many in Neria's extended family are active in programs that combine religious studies with community outreach and education in poor towns. Neria was active in the Bnei Akiva youth movement.
"Neria's most striking quality was boundless joy. Everyone always wanted to be with him," said Eliezer Avni, a ninth-grade counselor at the Mercaz Harav affiliate where Neria studied. "He was a boy who lived all the ideals in the world, who enlisted for every mission, whether it was activity on behalf of Jonathan Pollard, or on behalf of communities, or the needy."
"He is God's light, a perfect soul who connects to God all the time. He was a true son of the Torah and spent every moment with his study companion. When he understood the essence of the Torah, he was filled with happiness and joy," Rabbi Ze'ev Schor, one of Neria's teachers, said over his grave.
Neria Cohen was also buried in the priests' section in the Mount of Olives cemetery in Jerusalem. He is survived by his parents, Yitzhak and Ayala, and 11 siblings.