Redheaded little Ariel Bibas loved winged things — Batman and butterflies. While he was still held in captivity, many dressed like Batman in his honor. This Purim, a mere few weeks after his remains, along with those of his brother Kfir and his mother Shiri, were brought back to Israel for proper burial, many dressed in Batman costumes in his honor. Orange butterflies adorn the ceiling of a new hospital ward at Schneider’s Children Hospital named in his and his baby brother Kfir’s honor. And now, a particular species of orange butterfly often spotted in Jerusalem, the city also named in the book of Isaiah “Ariel,” bears his name, too.
“Meet the ‘Kitmit Ariel,'” the Bibas family shared on Instagram. Yarden Bibas, Ariel’s father, received a letter from the Academy of Hebrew Language on March 26 with a surprise message. In it, the academy (which is responsible for, among other things, creating new Hebrew words) told him they chose to rename the butterfly in honor of his late eldest son.
According to the letter, on March 24, the board of the academy voted unanimously to accept the academy’s zoology committee motion and change the name of the Kitmit Yerushalayim (Melitaea ornata), also known as the Jerusalem fritillary, to the name of Yarden’s “butterfly-loving son Ariel.” From now on, the butterfly with wings as bright as the little Bibas’ hair is called in proper Hebrew “Kitmit Ariel.”
“We believe that of all our country’s orange butterflies, this one is the most fitting to bear your son’s name, for Ariel is one of the names of Jerusalem,” the board wrote.
“May this be a comfort to you in your time of grief and may his memory serve as a reminder for all those who lost their lives in this terrible disaster and in this heavy battle,” they continued.
The Bibas family expressed their gratitude for the academy’s “heartwarming gesture” on social media. “The thought of Ariel flying amongst us and adding beauty and color to the world greatly moves us,” they shared.
The academy sent their letter a day before the shloshim — the thirty-day mark — of the Bibas’ burial. The next day, an orange grave was unveiled at Tsohfer Regional Cemetery, a few miles away from what used to be the family’s idyllic home in Kibbutz Nir Oz. The kibbutz is where Ariel lived for three years, Kfir for nine months, and where Shiri, killed at age 32, and Yarden built a home and started a family.
The gravestone is surrounded by orange flowers, and on the orange marble are quotes in honor of Shiri — “the best daughter, mother and sister we could ask, funny, sensitive, loving and always protective of everyone” — Ariel — “an amazing and rambunctious son with a shy smile, everyone’s loved one, a child of light and love” — and baby Kfir — “he loved hugs and cuddles, a sweet and charming baby.”
A lyric from the Zakk Wylde song, “I Thank You Child,” that played at their funeral is inscribed on the grave: “It was you who made living all worth the while, oh lovin’ you it’s the best.” Ariel’s final resting place may be in that cemetery, but his memory will forever be alive in so many of us, and now also, in the wings of an orange butterfly.
