Mar 6, 2008 - Yehonadav Haim Hirschfeld, 18, of Kokhav Hashahar 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.
Yehonadav Haim Hirschfeld was the fifth of 13 children born to one of the oldest families in Kokhav Hashahar, a community in the Mate Binyamin regional council.
Yehonadav attended a high school yeshiva near Mercaz Harav and later continued to study at the yeshiva itself. He was involved with children in the community and had worked as a counselor in the Ariel youth movement. Even after he left the movement he kept up his relationships with the kids. He was a "talented young man with broad horizons, intelligent, and an admired guide in the Ariel youth movement," Haya Meir, a neighbor, said.
Yehonadav was buried in Kokhav Hashahar. He is survived by his parents, Zemah and Elisheva, and 12 siblings.