UMD undergraduates have ties to student, rabbi killed in Palestinian attacks

Alyssa Goldsmith, a sophomore psychology major, knew Ezra Schwartz, the brother of a University of Maryland student who was killed in an attack in Israel this past Thursday.

Among the five people killed in a pair of terror attacks in Israel this past Thursday were the brother of a University of Maryland student and an instructor who taught students who took gap years to study in Israel.

Ezra Schwartz, an 18-year-old American who died in the attack, is the brother of freshman Mollie Schwartz. Rabbi Yaakov Don, who was also a victim, was an instructor at an Israeli seminary.

Three of the five people, including Schwartz and Don, were killed in what was described as a “shooting and car ramming attack” in the Gush Etzion region of the West Bank, according to Haaretz, an Israeli newspaper. The other two were fatally stabbed in Tel Aviv.

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An incident report revealed a Palestinian driver opened fire toward a group of cars, according to Haaretz. Schwartz and 24-year-old Palestinian Shadi Arafa were pronounced dead at the scene, while Don died later at Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Center, according to the article.

University President Wallace Loh offered condolences to the Schwartz family in a statement Monday.

“As we come together as a campus — all races, religions, and beliefs — in condemnation of all senseless violence, abroad and at home, let us join together in extending our heartfelt condolences to Mollie and the rest of Ezra’s family,” Loh said in the statement.

Schwartz, a native of Sharon, Massachusetts, took a gap year and was studying at Yeshivat Ashreinu. He was among several yeshiva students who traveled to the Gush Etzion region to deliver food to Israel Defense Forces troops stationed in the area, according to Haaretz.

Sophomore psychology major Alyssa Goldsmith met Schwartz on a Jewish conservative service youth group trip in high school and said he had plans to study business at Rutgers next fall.

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Goldsmith was one of about 40 university students who boarded a bus early Sunday morning to attend Schwartz’s funeral at Temple Sinai of Sharon.

“[Schwartz] was always getting involved in community service and he died doing community service,” Goldsmith said. “He constantly did volunteer work and loved helping everyone out.”

Senior Chinese and government and politics major Alex Davidson, also a native of Sharon, knew of Schwartz through mutual friends and said he hopes the situation raises awareness of events in the region.

“I’ve known people involved with [terrorist attacks], but nothing this close to home,” Davidson said. “I hope it brings more awareness to the reality of what is going on.”

While Schwartz has a sister and multiple friends at this university, Don had an impact on students who took his courses. Junior Jewish studies major Alexandra Lewyn, who took Don’s current events in Israel course while on a gap year in Israel, said he was a “fabulous teacher and really joyous man.”

Lewyn also attended Schwartz’s funeral to honor Don and said between about 1,500 and 2,000 people were present.

“It is always terrible when you hear on the news an Israeli has been attacked, but this was especially difficult because for the first time it was someone I actually knew,” Lewyn said. “I wasn’t able to go to Rabbi Don’s funeral, so I felt this was the next best thing.”

Hillel Executive Director Rabbi Ari Israel, wrote in an email that the university will be sending three buses of students — the largest campus contingent in the country from any university — to Israel this winter through the Birthright Israel program. Israel added that changes to itineraries are made “without hesitation” if there is any form of security issue.

“Maryland Hillel and Birthright Israel takes security very seriously,” Israel wrote. “Each bus travels with a guard/medic at all times to protect our students.”

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Israel wrote that trip itineraries are approved in a “situation monitoring room,” which he said “is administrated by the Israel Ministry of Education and coordinated with the IDF, Israel Police and other security authorities.”

Davidson said the fact that two of the people killed had ties to this university makes the situation harder to grasp.

“Every time something like this happens, it’s awful,” Davidson said. “But having a connection is terrible. It’s just very unfortunate.”