Family of slain American-Israeli soldier Max Steinberg visits Jerusalem holy site for first time since arriving in Israel to bury their son.
By DANIEL K. EISENBUD, JTAStuart Steinberg, father of fallen Golani Brigade sharpshooter Max Steinberg, prays at the West.(photo credit: WESTERN WALL HERITAGE FOUNDATION)
The family of slain American-Israeli soldier Max Steinberg visited the Western Wall for the first time Sunday night since arriving in Israel to bury their son.Evie and Stuart Steinberg, and their remaining son and daughter, Jake and Paige, who arrived last week for the funeral of St.-Sgt. Steinberg, 24, a southern California native killed in Gaza in an attack on the armored personnel carrier in which he was riding, were accompanied by Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat and his wife.Stuart Steinberg recited the mourners kaddish at the wall in the presence of the rabbi of the Western Wall, Shmuel Rabinowitz. Visitors to the wall surrounded the grieving family to offer condolences and praise their son.Steinberg, a sharpshooter, was killed with six other members of his Golani Brigade when it was attacked by Hamas terrorists on July 20.Steinberg enlisted in the IDF shortly after visiting Israel for the first time on a Birthright trip.His mother, Evie, told Channel 2 upon her arrival at Ben Gurion Airport that her son was a hero.Steinberg’s parents had wanted to visit the Western Wall because it was where their son was sworn into the IDF.The Steinberg family expressed appreciation for the continued solidarity and support they have received from around the country since landing in Israel, at the funeral, for the period of mourning and at the Western Wall, Rabinowitz said.
