At Hero’s Funeral, Grandfather Echoes Rebbe’s Call to Beg ‘Ad Mosai’

Hero security guard previously thought kidnapped, Elyakim Libman, was recently found buried in Israel in a mixup from the confusion post-massacre. At his levaya on Sunday, his grandfather quoted the famous Chof Ches Nissan sicha.

Elyakim Libman, a young security guard who fought heroically and saved multiple lives at the Nova Festical on Simchas Torah, was thought to be kidnapped and held hostage in Gaza up until last week when his body was found buried in Israel in another burial site. On Sunday, his family had a heart wrenching levaya where his grandfather, Rabbi Dovid Segal, cried out the words of the Rebbe from the famous Chof Ches Nissan farbrengen.

For the last seven months, the family of Elyakim, thought he was being held hostage in Gaza and desperately davened for his safe return. His fellow security guards who worked together with him at the Nova Festival on the fateful morning of Simchas Torah, said he rescued multiple people and kept going back again and again to bring people to safety.

The last time they saw him, he was on his way to escaping the scene when he stopped to help two terribly injured women. After that, he never returned. His family and friends thought he was taken as hostage to Gaza until last Friday, when his family was notified that after intense investigation, involving IDF military representatives and members of the Institute of Forensic Medicine and Health Ministry, his remains were identified alongside another victim that was buried.

This Sunday, his family gathered for his levaya. His grandfather, Rabbi Segal, a chassid from the yishuv Shavei Shomron, cried out bitterly for the tragic loss.

“Tonight, in three hours, is Chof Ches Nissan, the day that 33 years ago, the Rebbe cried out that every person must do everything in his power to bring about the coming of Moshiach. That ten people should come out and say Ad Masai and really mean it. Look around and see the mess and confusion unfolding all around us…”