Galit Henn 1 September 1985 - 13 December 1997

Galit Henn was born in Israel on 1 September 1985, the fifth and youngest child of Judy and Nehemia Henn. As she was always surrounded by love, she grew up happy, with a smile of contentment on her lovely face. She walked and talked early, and by age two was ordering around her nursery school teachers and companions. She loved dolls and drawing, and when she learned to read, became quite a bookworm; her card at the community library shows she read three to four books a week. She took piano lessons for 1 ½ years, and for her final 2 ½ years played the violin. She had a clear soprano voice.

     One of Galit’s outstanding characteristics was her empathy for the needy; whether it was a fellow pupil who had fallen down, a new immigrant child from Russia who couldn’t speak Hebrew, or a lonely, elderly widower – Galit was there to comfort. A number of girls referred to Galit as their best friend, because she gave each one the feeling of being special. More than twenty elderly people from our cooperative community (kibbutz) came forward after Galit’s death to tell us how she carried packages for them, helped weed their gardens, or just came for a cup of tea – we never knew of these good deeds.

     Galit was an outstanding pupil. From age nine she attended an enrichment program for gifted children one day a week. There she made new friends from different religious and socio-economic backgrounds, and learned diverse subjects such as archeology, ecology, and socio-drama. The sculpture which she began was completed by her friends and is now hanging on the entrance wall of the school for the gifted with a plaque in her memory.

     Galit was family oriented; she could be counted on at family gatherings to organize her younger cousins for a game of hide and seek, or a nature walk. She was extremely devoted to her American grandmother Sara, and her late Israeli great-grandmother Hanna. Her five girl cousins who ranged around her in age were especially close to her. Her two older sisters, Hila (13 years her senior) and Matat (10 years her senior), delighted in her quick wit and joined her in singing songs at holidays. Her oldest brother Amram (8 years her senior), was impressed by her intensity of conviction. Her brother El’ad (4 years her senior) was, in many ways, her kindred spirit; they shared a love of books, music, computers, art, and conversation.

     All this beauty and talent was brutally cut short by a tragic automobile accident on 13 December 1997, in which Galit and her paternal aunt, Rachel Henn Prat, were killed, on their way to Rachel’s home at Kibbutz Mahanaim in the Galillee. Rachel is survived by her husband, Uri, two sons, Yiftach and Yosef, and a daughter, Esther.

     Galit was 12 years and 3 months old at her death. This notebook is her legacy to us. We found it hidden under her mattress the morning after the accident. May we be worthy of her legacy.