The inspiring Dee family: One year after a terror attack killed Maia, Rina, Lucy

• Published date: 19 April 2024
• Author: RIVKAH LAMBERT ADLER
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

On April 7, 2023, Lucy Dee and her daughters Maia, 20, and Rina, 15, were driving to Tiberias over Hol Hamoed, the intermediate days of the week-long festival. Their vehicle was rammed off the road by terrorist gunmen, who shot all three women. Maia and Rina were killed on the scene, and Lucy passed away from her wounds two days later

In a private ceremony exactly one year later, Rabbi Leo Dee and his daughters Keren and Tali and son Yehuda (now 19, 18 and 15 years old) dedicated a new social hall in their community of Efrat in Lucy's memory.

Later that evening, a standing-room-only crowd of 700, plus 2,400 who watched the ceremony online, gathered in the newly dedicated Shirat Lucy (Lucy's Song) Hall above the Mishkan Tziporah synagogue in Efrat to remember the three women and to draw inspiration from their lives.

Rabbi Leo Dee speaks

After thanking the attendees for "the abundance of love, help, positive wishes, and kindness from everyone this year," Rabbi Dee called these collective acts of kindness "our greatest nechama [comfort]."

In his talk, Rabbi Dee highlighted what he identified as "some of the thousands of projects that have been set off during this year in their memory by friends, family, and people we have never met before!"

He spoke about the Torah scroll written in Lucy's memory, "with every one of the 300,000 letters written by different schoolchildren, soldiers, and others from around the world…. This sefer Torah is the essence of Lucy's quest to get every Jew to feel part of our greater story and to shine their light in the world."

In a widely publicized follow-up story to the murders, seven people received one of Lucy's organs. In the audience that night was Rina Lital, the recipient of Lucy Dee's heart. While relating all the ways that Rina's life has begun to mirror Lucy's since the transplant, Rabbi Dee said, "The head of organ donations at Beilinson [Hospital, Rabin Medical Center, Petah Tikvah] recently announced on national radio that the 30% increase in organ donors in Israel is directly connected to Lucy's story."

Continuing the theme of saving lives, Rabbi Dee said that "groups of extremely generous Swiss and American donors, who had never met any of us, dedicated a number of ambulances in [Lucy's] memory and in the memory of Rina and Maia. They have saved numerous lives since then."

Dressed in matching white T-shirts, the students and faculty of Efrat's Orot Yehuda, where Lucy was a much-loved English teacher, recorded a haunting video of songs of encouragement and faith dedicated to Lucy's memory. The five-minute video garnered more than 43,000 views in its first four days.

In Maia's memory, tens of thousands of Jews around the world are learning and discussing a teaching from Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers) at their Shabbat table each week. The project started 18 months ago, when the Dees hosted two of Maia's friends from London. On that Shabbat, they learned one mishna from Pirkei Avot at each meal. In Maia's memory, those friends expanded the project to the extent that Rabbi Dee commented, "I cannot travel anywhere today without people...