Dina was terribly afraid of doctors and she was afraid of tests and she was not afraid to say that

Dina was my educator in a teaching program at the Quarter College.

We had all kinds of teachers who were tough who thought that a woman should always be strong and task-oriented and women could not cry, they should always face and be heroines.

Dina was another heroine, she was a real heroine, Dina knew how to say that many times to be a hero you have to cry first.

It was something she repeated many times, that in order to overcome difficulty and get out of crisis, first of all one has to cry and one has to mourn and one has to be sad and only then one can rejoice and overcome.

These things of Dina were for me like water on a weary soul and really affected me.

Lots of times you think you shouldn’t break and Dina kept saying you can break and cry, and then you grow best.

Dina would tell about things that were difficult for her, she would not be ashamed to tell that she was afraid.

Dina was terribly afraid of doctors and she was afraid of tests and she was not afraid to say that. Each time she would tell how much she was afraid and how she overcame it in the end.

This is the greatest heroism she has taught us that one can be afraid and one can talk about it.

Once I came to Dina and I had a very, very hard time, there was a very hard time, I couldn't pray and I couldn't mean anything, I felt like I really couldn't connect to Gd. And I told her that, and then she told me, "You have to pray for that, Pray to Gd to help you connect with Him who will help you to love Him "It accompanies me in life that even when it is difficult for you and you feel far from Gd then you can pray to Him, He will help He can even help in connecting with Him.

Something from Rabbi Eli that I very very much remember, is when he was teaching Torah then he was very very into things. His words really penetrated my heart and I remember them until now.

Rabbi Eli would tell about the ladder of his feet in the land and his head in heaven, I can actually see him sitting and teaching devoutly.

I remember that Rabbi Eli told about going abroad and teaching the Jews abroad the vision of the dry bones, and at the end of the lesson everyone would come and compliment him on the lesson and say what a nice lecture, and ask where to donate, and he shouted at them: "You did not understand anything !! You are the dry bones! You are the rotten bones!

My last meeting with Rabbi Eli and Dina was on Shabbat a seminary in Hebron. I was very disappointed that Rabbi Eli and Dina did not eat any meal with us. And when they came, after the Saturday night meal, I told Dina I was disappointed. Then she said that this is the first Shabbat that her son and his new wife come after the wedding, and she wants to be with them all, and dedicate the Shabbat to them, so she did not come. That evening she held my baby in her arms. And this is my last picture funded.

Shira Handler