School Joins Moment of Silence

By Ynetnews and COLlive

France was reeling Tuesday from the horrifying images of the murderous terror attack on the Ozar Hatorah School in Toulouse, Monday.

The shooting claimed the lives of Rabbi Jonathan Sandler, 30, his 3-year-old and 6-year-old sons Gabriel and Arieh and 8-year-old Miriam Monsonego.

Schoolchildren across France observed a moment of silence in honor of the four. Among them were the students of the Kerem Menahem Habad school in the nearby city of Nice, run by Shliach Rabbi Yossef Yitschok Pinson.

Rabbi Pinson later spoke about how the “Jewish response” should be to such horrific events, calling on community members to increase in their commitment to Judaism and the education of Jewish children.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy was present for a memorial service held at a junior high school in Paris.

Sarkozy briefly addressed the students and reiterated that everything possible was being done to find the gunman, adding that the children killed “were exactly like you… the attack could have happened here.”

Hundreds of mourners gathered at the main synagogue in Toulouse on Monday evening. In Paris, thousands staged a silent vigil in central Place de la Republique, while political leaders joined a solemn remembrance ceremony at the grand synagogue.

The bodies of the slain will be flown from Toulouse to Paris by the French Air Force and handed over to El Al, which will fly them to Israel to be buried in Jerusalem on Wednesday.