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Last update - 13:01 09/03/2008 For stricken yeshiva, trauma of terror attack likely to linger By Yair Ettinger, Haaretz Correspondent Tags: Israel, Jerusalem, Terror  Late Thursday night a few teenage boys entered the deserted classrooms of the high school at Jerusalem's Mercaz Harav yeshiva. On the street and in the courtyard, the crowds were still gathered. In the nearby library the rabbis were still identifying the bodies of their classmates. Each new name was whispered from student to student. "Who saw Neria Cohen," they asked, and no one answered. His body was identified later, but in the meantime the students in the classrooms and the beit midrash tried to distance themselves. They embraced, talking about their feelings, their faith, and then someone began to sing. The melancholy melody drowned out the talk, the boys' attempts to describe their feelings, and for quite some time they sang together. Advertisement The massacre at Mercaz Harav was not the first at a national-religious yeshiva. Five years ago a terrorist entered a pre-army academy at Atzmona, in Gush Katif in the Gaza Strip, and murdered five students and injured 23. In similar attacks in 2002, three students at a yeshiva in Othniel were killed, and three died in an attack at a yeshiva in Itamar. Six weeks ago a similar attack was foiled at Mekor Haim yeshiva in Gush Etzion. Rabbi Rafi Peretz, principal of the Otzem military preparatory school in Atzmona, which after the 2005 Gaza disengagement moved to Yeted in the Negev, said that his experience shows that the latest attack will occupy a central place in the life of the yeshiva. His school houses a memorial room to commemorate the lives of the five students who were killed. The annual day of memorial, whose Hebrew date comes in about three weeks, has an important place in the school's calendar - no less than the school's evacuation from Gaza in August 2005. "For us, this event made us see our role more clearly, and our way was to invest a lot more in studies and in the students. Our way is not tactical, it is of the essence," Peretz said. "It is to know that our suffering is meant not to bring us down but rather to strengthen us in our work." Since the Atzmona attack in 2003, the rift between Israel's national-religious society and society as a whole has only deepened. The students in the Zionist yeshivas grow up with a sense of alienation, not only from the government and its branches but also from the overall culture. Even before the attack, many of the students at Mercaz Harav no longer saw themselves as part of the institutions of the state, which was always a sacred value at Otzem. "It's a high-school yeshiva but there are guys with a very high awareness of ideological issues," said an 11th-grade counselor at Mercaz Harav's high school, Ze'ev Haim Adler. "You hear it in talks among the students and in many activities and demonstrations. A lot of the students were Gush Katif evacuees, maybe 20 or 30 in the whole yeshiva, and I know that they took what happened very hard. They are very sensitive to trauma, a few of them were completely overwhelmed on Thursday. I think they saw it as a direct result of what happened to them. They have enormous amounts of anger and frustration." Related articles: 'His face would glow with joy,' say friends of yeshiva attack victim ANALYSIS: Gazans see attack on yeshiva as unusual achievement Lieberman: Jerusalem attack is product of Arab MK incitement Eight killed when terrorist opens fire in library at Jerusalem yeshiva Bookmark to del.icio.us   From Pyongyang N. Korea expresses hope for stronger ties with Syria. Peres in Paris Pres. tells Le Figaro Israel won't act alone to halt Iran.   1.   To fact not worthy: no, actually the shock therapy is coming 08:29  |  Dan 09/03/08   2.   #1 fact worthless 08:32  |  judith 09/03/08   3.   Mercaz Harav - a "military", "settler", Talmudic Zionist" school? 08:55  |  Yonatan 09/03/08   4.   merkaz harav 09:05  |  joseph 09/03/08   5.   racist, hate-filled "sudents" 09:13  |  Sami 09/03/08   6.   Genuine Muslims do! 10:18  |  Joseph 09/03/08   7.   Sami .... 10:24  |  Shirah 09/03/08   8.   Joseph who? you take my name in vain and use me to curse 11:09  |  Gawd 09/03/08   9.   they are in shock!!! poor babies 13:16  |  fida`iyeen 09/03/08   10.   # 5 SAMI please enlighten us! 13:40  |  dannyAUSTRALIA 09/03/08   11.   Faith, Ideology it`s all about taking position... 14:55  |  Joseph A 09/03/08   12.   Unfortunate that these young men had been indoctrinated by their 15:28  |  lakshmi 09/03/08   13.   I have been struggling with, Why the deeper sadness? Joesph A., 15:54  |  Thank you 09/03/08   14.   could have been prevented 16:36  |  a mother 09/03/08   15.   Mercaz Harav-Sami 17:24  |  Rozz 09/03/08   16.   15Rozz,you are a shameful racist! 18:09  |  lakshmi 09/03/08

Today Online Palestinians: Hamas, Hezbollah cooperated on Jerusalem attack Responses: 176 Shin Bet chief: Chances of fresh Intifada are low Responses: 71 Gideon Levy: Mercaz Harav produced the rabbis who led the vilest form of Zionism Responses: 131 Editorial: Peace now, or eternal conflict later Responses: 49 Kuwaiti analyst: Best if Israel, not U.S., destroys Iran nukes Responses: 58 Jewish Agency to start anti-terror drive in wake of J'lem attack Responses: 40 Rosner's Domain Whose Jerusalem Is It, anyway? Poll: Should Abbas and Olmert continue their talks? An Israeli and a crocodile (WTR) The Israel Factor: What's wrong with Obama? Rosner's Mailbox: Stop focusing on Israel's favorability polls More Headlines 17:41 Shin Bet chief: Chances of fresh Intifada are low 21:17 FM to U.S. envoy: Conditions not ripe for forming Palestinian state 18:03 PM okays 750 new settlement homes, says fits state policy 19:53 Soldier laid to rest after dying of wounds from ambush near Gaza 22:08 'Jenin, Jenin' director tells court film based entirely on truth 19:01 Angry students cut short Tamir's visit to stricken J'lem yeshiva 16:38 Study: Boston's intermarried 'as observant' as Reform Jews 20:21 High Court rejects petitions to overturn Ramon cabinet appointment 22:06 Despite rumors of rift, Syria invites Saudi Arabia to Arab summit 17:51 Report: Hamas leader says hundreds of militants trained in Iran, Syria 17:52 Likud MK to propose ban on public mourning for terrorists 21:25 Antiques Authority detains man suspected of coin theft Previous Editions Select Day 07 mar 06 mar 05 mar 04 mar 03 mar 02 mar 29 feb 28 feb 27 feb 26 feb 25 feb 24 feb

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