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Very special girlFriday 05 Jul 2002
author: silja (silja@macam.ac.il)
Many of you who wrote here they didn't know Arbel personally. Well, I did and I didn't, depends on how you see it.
I saw her first as little girl in the kindergarten, I remember her on a Lag BaOmer activity. She climbed on a tree, like all the children did, and was for a moment afraid. When we, the adults, wanted to help her, she shook her curly little head, no it's okay. Took her breath and jumped down. Somehow I remember that little incident. Since then I knew this is an interesting girl, and I had a silent eye on her.
Many years went by in the kibbutz, and we lived next to Arbel's family. What a family, you won't find such people anywhere else. Bright, intelligent, very good with words, active in the kibbutz, dedicated, hard workers, helping others, but never making fuss about themselves. The very best kind of people, kibbutz aristocracy in its best sense. Only with such a strong backing a true non-conformist can develop.
Many people complain about youth nowadays, "youth has nothing in their heads but consumption and logos", and "girls think only about their looks and weight and dress". Well, Arbel was never like that, and neither is her sister. Intelligent girls, no-nonsense girls, serious girls. Curls growing on their heads, and independent thought inside.
Without ever speaking to her, just by seeing her grow up, I appreciated her. I like such girls who have their own mind about matters, and who feel if the world is a bad place, it's up to them to make it better.
After the cake incident most people agreed that her reasons for doing so were good, even if they thought the act itself was maybe too much on the showy side. But everybody I know felt she was a clever and serious girl, and everybody took her seriously. She was simply that kind of person, you couldn't just say, silly girl. She was certainly not silly. Even when she was little, she could make you respect her.
Just see how many people cared for her, how many she impressed, what a hole in the world she leaves. Amazing for such a young woman, isn't it?
I am proud that she was daughter of our kibbutz, that I live in a society that brings out young people like her. A world that Arbel cared about cannot be totally lost.
I wish her family could be helped but I know the pain is too immense. So much potential, so much future, such promise. How can one get over such loss?
I am bitterly sad and still don't want to believe such a young flower won't see fruit and seeds. While I'm not sure whether it's such a good idea to publish my feelings on the net, I see it like putting a stone on her grave.
She must not and will not be forgotten.
Silja, Kibbutz Dalia