‘A piece of my heart is gone’
THALIA Hakin was remembered as a sweet little girl and a little Shabbat candle who brought light and happiness to the world at her funeral on Wednesday afternoon.
THALIA Hakin was remembered as a sweet little girl and a little Shabbat candle who brought light and happiness to the world at her funeral on Wednesday afternoon.
“She was pretty inside, pretty on the outside,” her father Tony told the mourners at Lyndhurst Cemetery.
He remembered when she was born in hospital, with piercing blue eyes and was known on the ward as everyone’s Jewish little princess.
He said that the man who committed this horrific murder was the antithesis of what Thalia lived for because Thalia was a kind kid.
“Only the result of something that was pure evil could take her. I’ve lost a little girl.
“My family has two legs, the left leg is Maggie and the right leg is Thalia.
“I’m now hobbling along on one leg.”
Tony said that his wife Nathalie wanted to be at the funeral, but that it wasn’t possible.
“Nathalie would have wanted to say stuff about her, that she was a little butterfly and the light of her life.”
Gaby Jaffe, one of Thalia’s teachers at Beth Rivkah, remembered a spunky, vibrant student who was a wonderful mixture of resilience and vulnerability that crept into your heart.
“I loved her creative mind, sense of humour, her deep thinking and attention to detail,” Jaffe said.
“Thalia will be so sorely missed. A little piece of my heart is gone.
“When I painted my nails I was thinking of Thalia and I went bright.
“I just thought of that glorious cheeky grin and Thalia sitting there.
“She would have said, ‘go brighter Mrs Jaffe’.”
Rabbi Yossi Engel from Adelaide, where the family used to live, said that she lived a full life before she was taken “so suddenly, so viciously and with no warning bells”.
He said that despite her young age, she is a teacher to others.
“She was a child of light, pure in spirit,” Rabbi Engel said.
“She taught us love and concern. She displayed maturity beyond her years.
“We will all miss Thalia, a light amongst us.
“Thalia was like a little Shabbat candle, she shone so bright and cast her light on everyone that was with her. May she shine on for eternity”
Rabbi Yisroel Raskin from Chabad McKinnon Jewish Community Centre said his family had the privilege to know Thalia on a personal level.
“Thalia was always happy. She would bring a certain liveliness to the room,” Rabbi Raskin said.
Rabbi Raskin said that he had spoken to someone who was with Thalia in her final moments.
“Even in her last moments she had a special ‘hain’, a special grace on her face.
“That is who she was. Throughout the small life that she lived on this earth [she had] a hain, a grace, helping, loving and giving in whatever way possible.”
Full coverage in this week’s AJN.
JOSHUA LEVI
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