Murdered Israeli Embassy staffer remembered at Kansas funeral

Israeli Embassy staffer Sarah Milgrim, murdered in Washington, D.C., last week, was remembered at her Tuesday funeral as a bold advocate for Israel and for peace. Her family and friends gathered in Overland Park, Kan., to mourn her in a private, livestreamed service held at her childhood Jewish congregation, Beth Torah.

Milgrim and her boyfriend, fellow embassy staffer Yaron Lischinsky, were fatally shot last Wednesday as they left an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington. The Justice Department charged suspect Elias Rodriguez, 31, with two counts of murder for the crime. Rodriguez shouted, “Free, free Palestine,” after firing the shots, according to Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith. Lischinsky had planned to propose to Milgrim in the next few days, according to Israeli ambassador Yechiel Leiter.

During the service, Milgrim’s body lay in a casket draped with the Israeli flag as speakers read from Psalm 130 and Psalm 23. A worship leader from Beth Torah also sang a poem written by a woman who died in the Holocaust. It speaks of the memory of the dead lighting the world. Several speakers highlighted Milgrim’s active membership in Jewish communities throughout her life.

Her boss, Sawsan Hassan, said Milgrim was deeply affected by the Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel, which happened just before she began work at the Israeli Embassy. Milgrim immediately took on a difficult portfolio of outreach to U.S. liberals. She also ensured U.S. government officials heard the stories of women who experienced sexual assault on Oct. 7, Hassan said.

When was Lischinsky’s funeral? Lischinsky, an Israeli citizen, was laid to rest on Sunday in the Beit Zayit village outside Jerusalem, according to The New York Times. Hundreds, including Israeli dignitaries, reportedly attended his private funeral held in a pine forest outside the village. Lischinsky was a Messianic Jew. Messianic Jewish musician Misha Goetz, who lives in the Washington area and has met Milgrim, posted last Friday on Facebook that she believed Milgrim also became a Messianic Jew sometime in the past year. However, that report was not confirmed at Milgrim’s funeral.

Dig deeper: Read my report on Lischinsky’s faith in Jesus Christ.