Tova Lev

Sept 12, 2003 - Tova Lev, 37, of Bnei-Brak was one of 23 persons murdered by a suicide bomber on a No. 2 Egged bus in the capital's Shmuel Hanavi neighborhood on August 19, 2003.

Tova Lev, critically wounded in the attack, succumbed to her injuries on September 12, never regaining consciousness. The attack took place at about 9 p.m. as the bus was making its way from the Western Wall to several religious neighborhoods. The Hamas suicide bomber, apparently disguised as a religious Jew, boarded the bus and detonated his bomb shortly afterwards. Seven of those killed were children and over 130 people were wounded.

Tova, the youngest of four children raised by Yosef and Hannah Lev, was unmarried. A kindergarten teacher, she would always spend part of her summer vacation in Jerusalem, and had gone to pray at the Western Wall, as she often did, when she was mortally wounded in the blast. Friends said that she went to pray for a husband.

Since Yosef Lev's death 12 years ago, Tova cared for her mother. One of her nephews said that she devoted her life to educating children to such values as honoring parents, love of Torah and charity.

Tova Lev was buried in Jerusalem. She is survived by her mother Hannah and three siblings.