Israeli hiker Or Asraf was buried in the Lehavim cemetery in southern Israel on Wednesday. Photo: Twitter.

JNS.org – Thousands gathered in the Lehavim cemetery in southern Israel on Wednesday to pay their respects to 22-year-old Or Asraf, the sole Israeli victim of the devastating earthquake in Nepal.

“Death took you when you were happiest, enjoying every moment traveling through nature,” Asraf’s father, Patrick, said in his eulogy.

Asraf’s body was found on Sunday by his comrades from the IDF’s elite Egoz Reconnaissance Unit in the Langtang Nature Park in Nepal after an arduous search in difficult terrain.

“Your friends from the Egoz unit and IsraLife rescued you in a complicated mission that put their own lives at risk. We managed to bring you home from the mountain. We know that dozens of trekkers will never make it back down. … We reached the end of the journey. You are home,” said Patrick.