One seemingly simple act of kindness can literally save a life

Terror Victim's Kind Act Saved a Life, Parents Say

by Israel News staff

One of the victims of the recent terrorist shooting near Hevron was Kokhava Even-Chaim. Kokhava, 37, was a teacher in the city of Efrat. She was survived by a 10-year-old daughter and by her husband Maimon, a volunteer paramedic who was among the first at the scene of the attack that claimed his wife's life.

As Kokhava's family sat shiva, the seven-day mourning period, they were visited by neighbors and friends who came to give comfort and to share stories about Kokhava. One set of unexpected visitors shared a story about how Kokhava's kindness saved a young soldier.

The visitors, a middle aged irreligious couple from Kibbutz Hagoshrim in northern Israel, began their story by talking about the hospitality that Kokhava and her husband showed to soldiers stationed in the Hevron area. The family would invite at least two soldiers for every Sabbath meal.

On one Sabbath day a few years ago, the Even-Chaim family hosted two soldiers. Kokhava asked them if every soldier in the area had a place to eat the Sabbath meal, and was told that there was one soldier who had chosen to remain in the barracks because he was unhappy. Kokhava prepared a plate of food for the soldiers to bring to him when they left.

As the two were leaving, she asked why their fellow soldier was sad. They explained that it was his birthday, but his commanding officer had rejected his request to go home for the day and celebrate with his family. The soldier was very upset by the rejection, and had become depressed, they said.

Immediately after the Sabbath ended, Kokhava baked a cake and invited all the soldiers to come over for an impromptu birthday party.

The couple from Kibbutz Hagoshrim explained that the lonely, depressed soldier who Kokhava baked a cake for was their son. He had been so seriously depressed at the time that he considered running away from the army, and even thought of suicide. However, the kindness Kokhava showed him amazed him so much that he was shaken out of his depression.

For that reason, they said, they had come all the way from the north to southern Judea to mourn a woman they had never met.

As one person who heard the story said, "The story shows how one seemingly simple act of kindness can literally save a life."