BDE: Eliyahu Kay Hy”d

Eliyahu David Kay, Hy”d, seen in the Chabad yeshivah in Kiryat Gat. (Akiva Kirshenbaum)

Eliyahu Kay H”yd, was murdered in a Hamas terrorist attack in the Old City as he was heading to the Kosel on Sunday morning.

Kay, who was 26, had made aliyah from South Africa a few years ago and had served in the Israeli Defense Force until 2019. He had a job as a tour guide of the Kosel tunnels and had studied in the Chabad yeshivah in Kiryat Gat. He was engaged to be married in a few months.

The Kosel Heritage Foundation and the Rabbi of the Kosel, Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, released a statement, in which they said that they “are deeply pained by the despicable murder this morning of Eliyahu Kay, Hy”d, while on his way to his job at the Western Wall.

“Eliyahu Kay, z”l, a new immigrant from South Africa, worked as a guide at the Western Wall Plaza, warmly greeting everyone he met, doing his sacred work.

“We share in the deep sorrow of his family and friends.”

In a statement, Chief Rabbi of South Africa Rabbi Warren Goldstein commemorated Kay, saying, “The tears and prayers of South African Jewry are with Avi and Devorah Kay and their family at this time of grief on the murder of their son Eli in a terror attack in Jerusalem this morning.

“Eli their son was a hero of the Jewish people who made Aliyah and served in the IDF – like their other sons – and made us all so proud. The Kay family have for generations have been pillars of kindness, contribution and builders of Yiddushkeit in our South African Jewish community and we are heartbroken. They are a family well known and beloved for their chesed and yiras shomayim, and Eli lived with the same spirit and values.

“Eli left this world al kiddush Hashem murdered, on his way to daven at the Kosel before beginning work as a tour guide, for only one reason: for being a Jew. All civilized people in the world must come together to defend all that us precious and sacred is our world. May Hashem comfort the Kay family and all of us, among the other mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.”

In a statement, Agudath Israel said it was “heartbroken at the news of a terror attack in the heart of Jerusalem, indeed, the heart if the Jewish nation, just minutes away from the Kosel Plaza.

“The Jewish people suffers when one of our brothers or sisters is attacked and here, too, we suffer along with the victims and their families, to whom we offer our condolences and pray for G-d’s comfort. May Hashem avenge the blood of Eliyahu Kay, and may He grant the other victims a speedy recovery.”

The levayah will take place on Monday.

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