Asaf ben Ilan Ramon z"l

Yesterday evening, while my wife was picking up her mother at the hospital, where my father-in-law is being treated, I was at home with our children. After they went to sleep, I read some chapters in the very interesting ( though not very well edited ) book that I am reading these days. I did not watch the news, as I normally do. When my wife came home she asked if I had heard the news. Since President Peres had fainted the other day I thought that maybe something had happened to him. But no, it turned out that Asaf Ramon, the son of legendary Israeli icon Ilan Ramon, had died in a training accident. I felt very sad. Israel, in spite of everything, is still a very closely knit society, many if not most Israelis do not need more than one or two degrees ( unlike the six degrees of Kevin Bacon ) to 'reach' a bereaved family, for every one of us it is easy to identify with parents and siblings who lose a loved one. When Ilan Ramon died in the Columbia disaster, I was doing reserve duty somewhere in the Negev. I remember how much we all followed the events, the funeral, the memorial services etc. The Ramon family became another exemplary Israeli family, whose members served this country and people as best as they could. Unfortunately Asaf's promising life was cut short so early. May his memory, and his father's, be a blessing.