Teacher, poet, and entrepreneur: Who was slain hostage Judith Weinstein Haggai?
Judy was volunteering on the kibbutz when she heard Gadi playing the flute and fell in love, the kibbutz said.
The body of hostage Judith Weinstein Haggai, a 70-year-old member of Kibbutz Nir Oz, was returned to Israel early Thursday morning, the IDF announced.
She and her husband, Gadi Haggai, were killed on October 7, 2023, and their bodies were taken to Gaza.
Judy was 70 years old, a mother of four, and a grandmother of seven. She was an English teacher specializing in children with special needs, and she worked with children with anxiety by using meditation and mindfulness methods.
She was a poet and entrepreneur, and was dedicated to working for peace and brotherhood, her kibbutz said.
"Judi Weinstein Haggai had a habit of writing haiku every morning - a poem of one or two sentences - and posting it on Facebook," Kibbutz Nir Oz said on Instagram.
"The last one she wrote was on October 7th. The poems she wrote over the years were published in poetry books."
'We welcome the closure that we have been granted and the return for burial of our loved ones, who went out for a walk on that Black Sabbath morning and never came back," the Weinstein Haggai family said Thursday.
Nir Oz thanked the IDF and security forces who carried out the complex rescue operation. They also thanked "everyone who supported, struggled, prayed, and fought for us and for all of Israel," as well as the FBI, and the US and Israeli governments.
"However, our hearts will not be whole until all 12 hostages from Nir Oz and all 56 hostages in total are brought back," the statement concluded.
Judy and Gadi were the "power couple of Kibbutz Nir Oz." Judy was volunteering on the kibbutz when she heard Gadi playing the flute and fell in love, the kibbutz said.
"They complete each other: he's a goofball, just like a little kid, always dancing and laughing, while Judy is an English teacher, taking care of children, and sharing meditation and mindfulness techniques," the kibbutz said.
Haggai and his wife had been out walking early on October 7 when Hamas terrorists attacked them according to the Hostage Family Forum. Their daughter, Iris, heard in a phone call that they were hiding and that her father was injured and later lost contact with them. The terrorists kidnapped both of them and took them to Gaza.
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