The Ben Aryeh Family

Chaim Ben Aryeh (z"l)

Chaim was born in April 1967 (א’ בניסן תשכ”ז ) to Avraham and Ora,
one of the ﬁrst families in Efrat.

After his his army service, he married Irit and moved to Gush Katif. Together they had 8 children. After the 2005 “disengagement” from Gush Katif, he and his family moved to a new community they established called Karmei Katif.

For years, Chaim was known as the legendary bus driver of Gush Katif. In the morning
he’d take the local kids to school and in the afternoon, he’d return them home. He
was a beloved ﬁgure, always optimistic, seeing only good in others and ready to help
others in need.

A Victim of Tragedy

On motzai Simchat Torah Chaim arrived at Kibbutz Beeri with his bus to help
evacuate families. There he witnessed traumatic scenes and massive loss of life
especially amongst the local children. It was a soul-destroying experience and
too much for him. Chaim had been a special person, lion-hearted in nature but
overwhelmed especially as the ever helpful bus driver he could not fathom the
evil he witnessed that was done to the children. He’d always been able to help
and treat the victims of violence but for the ﬁrst time there was no one to treat
and the feeling of helplessness tore at the fabric of his soul.

On October 26t, not being able to live with the trauma, Chaim entered his beloved bus and took his life.

Life after Chaim

Chaim left behind his wife, Irit and 8 children.
During the Shiva his wife spoke about the fact that hundreds of people came and
told her about the Chaim that they knew. She’d always thought of him as “her”
Chaim but it turned out that many people thought of him in a similar way and that
he was “everyone’s” Chaim. Soldiers, children and regular people all knew
him as a patient and loving kind-hearted soul.

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