Daniel Viflic, 16Apr 17, 2011 - Daniel Viflic, 16, of Bet Shemesh, died of mortal wounds suffered on April 7 when an anti-tank missile was fired at a school bus in the Negev near Kibbutz Sa’ad.
Rafael Daniel Ariel Viflic was a student at the Heichal Hatorah Yeshiva near Bet Shemesh. He had been visiting his grandmother in Kibbutz Ruhama and went for a ride with her neighbor, Zion Yemini, the school bus driver. Just moments after it had dropped off the rest of the school children, the bus was hit by an anti-tank missile near Kibbutz Sa’ad. Daniel was mortally wounded by shrapnel that penetrated his brain, and was declared dead ten days later. The driver suffered moderate wounds to the leg.
Daniels father Yitzhak spent many years in Hong Kong studying martial arts. There he met his wife, who converted to Judaism. While still in Hong Kong they became religiously observant, and when Daniel was two years old they came to live in Israel.
Benny Chen, who knew the family from the time they lived in Hong Kong said, "Daniel and his sister were their only children. They managed to fit in well with the local community, they were quiet and loved by all. Daniel was not meant to be on the bus. He came to visit his grandmother, slept over and the driver who knew him asked to take him for a ride. A ride from which he never returned.”
Daniel wanted his father to teach him martial arts, but his father insisted that he first do daily pushups to strengthen himself. His teachers at the yeshiva described him as an exceptionally gifted student with "too much soul".
Daniel Viflic was buried in the Eretz HaChaim cemetery near Beit Shemesh. He is survived by his parents, Yitzhak and Tamar, his sister Adina, 13, and his grandmother Ida. | 
