Rabbi Calls On Mourners To ‘Honor Legacy’ Of Shooting Victim Alyssa Alhadeff

A mourner holds a program from Alhadeff’s funeral. Image by Getty

Mourners at the funeral of Alyssa Alhadeff Friday. Image by Getty
Roughly 400 people attended the funeral of Alyssa Alhadeff, a Jewish, 15-year-old victim of the shooting at a Parkland, Florida, high school Wednesday, the Sun-Sentinel reported.
“Honor her legacy with positive actions and be her voice,” Rabbi Shuey Biston of the Chabad of Parkland told over 400 mourners who came to remember the 14-year-old, according to the Sun-Sentinel.
The mourners and family members remembered, through tears and smiles, the athletic, smart and sweet Alhadeff. They shared stories of her academic determinedness and the ease with which she made friends. Alhadeff was an avid soccer player and hoped to go to law school.
One person brought a poster covered with pictures of Alhadeff.

A mourner holds a program from Alhadeff’s funeral. Image by Getty
Alhadeff’s mother told her teenage friends that she hopes to hear from them, and challenged them to make the most of their lives, like Alyssa was planning to do.
Contact Ari Feldman at [email protected] or on Twitter @aefeldman
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Most Popular
- 1
Fast Forward Why the Antisemitism Awareness Act now has a religious liberty clause to protect ‘Jews killed Jesus’ statements
- 2
News School Israel trip turns ‘terrifying’ for LA students attacked by Israeli teens
- 3
Culture Cardinals are Catholic not Jewish — so why do they all wear yarmulkes?
- 4
News Why Zohran Mamdani believes he’ll win over Jewish voters, as Israel critic surges to second behind Cuomo in NYC mayoral race
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward Sholom Lipskar, influential Chabad rabbi who reshaped Florida community, dies at 78
-
Fast Forward Murders of two Israelis in Los Angeles appear unrelated as speculation mounts
-
Fast Forward Campus encampments return one year later, and pro-Palestinian protests spark 15 arrests
-
Fast Forward Israeli left-wing group suspended at University of Haifa after protesting the war in Gaza
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.