A West Hartford family traveled to Israel Tuesday for the funeral of Elan Ganeles. The 27-year-old was shot and killed by a suspected Palestinian gunman Monday while in Israel for a wedding.
Here in Connecticut, Ganeles is being remembered as a caring, highly intelligent man of deep Jewish faith.
Living only two doors down from the home where Ganeles was raised, neighbors are mourning.
“It’s just heartbreaking,” said Ilana Bernstein. “It’s hard for me to put a sentence together.”
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Ilana and her husband Steven had known Ganeles since he was a child. Their children even have some hand-me-down clothing he once wore.
“We look at the tags, written on the inside of clothing and it says 'Elan Ganeles,'” Steven said.
Ganeles graduated from Columbia University in 2022. According to his LinkedIn page, he had been working as a geospatial analyst for the Center for International Earth Science Information Network.
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Ganeles had dual citizenship between Israel and the United States. He attended Hebrew schooling in West Hartford before spending time in Israel where he served in the Israel Defense Forces from 2016 to 2018.
Where he grew up in West Hartford, there is grieving in the Jewish community.
“It may be thousands of miles away, but it’s right here. Right here in our hearts,” Ilana said.
The Bernsteins are also of Jewish faith and the news of the apparent terror attack has startling significance for them.
“I remember, my first reaction was, there’s nowhere we can go,” Steven said.
“No matter what faith you are, no matter where you come from, we’re all just humans,” Ilana said.
Rabbi Joseph Gopin is not the Ganeles’ rabbi, but he knows the family well. He, too, is grieving but despite the recent uptick in violence on the West Bank, he says Israel should not be a feared destination for those of Jewish faith.
“We still go there we still support it, and we still hope and pray for the day there’s going to be peace in Israel,” Gopin said. “We know one thing. God wants us to be there. God wants us to build Israel.”
On Tuesday, Ganeles was being remembered for his faith as those who share the same beliefs come to terms with what transpired Monday.
“No one should be scared for their lives,” Ilana said. “I’m scared for my kids.”
