Canadian-Israeli teen from Edmonton killed in Jerusalem bombing

A Canadian-Israeli teen who was killed in a bombing in Jerusalem Wednesday was from Edmonton. 16-year-old Aryeh Schupak was killed in one of two bomb blasts near busy bus stops, which also injured at least 18 others.

Rabbi Refaen Rockmill said Aryeh Shechopek was a very special student who is being mourned by his peers.

“He was always smiling. Everyone loved him. Loved him. And he loved everyone else,” Rockmill said Wednesday.

“He always did everything to try his best, and in getting on with life, and doing the right things and trying his best to be a good person.”

He said Aryeh will be missed greatly by those at the Harei Yehuda Yeshiva school. The teen had started his second year of studies there in September.

Rockmill said the boy hadn’t been feeling well in the morning and was contemplating whether or not to attend classes.

“He decided he wanted to come, even though he got up a little miserable, but he decided he wanted to come because he loves the place, the whole place because … we’re a family,” Rockmill said.

The funeral procession for the teen drew in hundreds of mourners, but the impacts of the attack were felt far and wide.

“No family should have to bury their child, and no child should be scared about walking to school and what violence they might encounter,” says Stacey Leavitt-Wright, CEO of the Jewish Federation of Edmonton.

The Jewish Federation of Edmonton says Schupak once attended Edmonton Menorah Academy. He was waiting at a Jerusalem bus stop on his way to school when he was killed in the explosion.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned the attacks on Twitter. “Incredibly saddened to learn about the death of a young Canadian in the terrorist attack in Jerusalem. I’m sending his family and friends my deepest condolences,” Trudeau said.

Israeli authorities say it appeared to be an attack by Palestinian militants. “Our community and all Jewish Canadians are very saddened and somewhat horrified because this was not only a boy who was murdered, but a targetted terrorist attack and that has significant consequences for Jewish Canadians and Jews around the world,” says Leavitt-Wright.

“To see this resurgence once again is concerning, so people are concerned for their family and friends back at home and that sense of antisemitism being on the rise again and this is just another example of that.”

More than 130 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli-Palestinian fighting in the West Bank and East Jerusalem this year, making 2022 the deadliest year since 2006.

At least eight Israelis have been killed in the most recent wave of Palestinian attacks.

READ MORE: Canadian-Israeli teen killed in Jerusalem attack while on his way to seminary

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 23, 2022.

— By Mickey Djuric in Regina, with files from The Associated Press