Tuesday, April 21, 2015                                                  2 Nissan 5775

A two-minute siren will sound across Israel tonight at 8PM in memory of 23,320 fallen soldiers and terror attack victims killed since 1860.

Each and every one of them is a Hero of Israel.

His or her life allowed and blessed our life in the only Jewish State.

I would like to dedicate this Erev Yom Hazikaron “Hello” to one of them whom I grew up with , one of a few whom I personally knew and when the siren cuts the air his memory and face come to my mind and tears come to my eyes.

Yuval, son of Sarah and Meir, was born on the 25th of Cheshvan 5732 (11/13/1971) in Jerusalem. 

From the days of his childhood, two contradictory nicknames stayed with him: one, "Funny" because of his smile and laughter, and the other, "Gingi", because as far back as elementary school (“Beit HaYeled”) and through High School (“Beit Hinuch", both in Jerusalem) his need to see justice done during any and all arguments and his red hot temperament were very prominent.

Sarah, Yuval’s mother, recalls that as  early as age four he had a tremendous love for animals, and would often would come home carrying a box with slugs, or with silkworms. Their home was constantly filled with turtles, hamsters, a parrot, rabbit, cats and dogs – this, not only out of Yuval’s love for living things but out of his true interest in researching and studying living creatures.

In high school, Yuval excelled in mathematics. He generously shared his talents in that subject by tutoring a group of students throughout their high school days up to their army recruitment. Yuval’s interests were not limited to math. He also had a deep interest in psychology, because of his intense interest in his fellow man. His need to experience things first hand led him into many areas - trips in Israel and abroad, tinkering with various musical instruments, enjoying jazz, dance and photography. He loved reading books as varied in subject as philosophy and science fiction. He graduated from high school with honors.

Yuval was recruited into the army in February 1990, hoping to fulfil his dream to serve as a pilot. To his great disappointment, he didn't pass the preliminary pilot exams, due to medical restrictions. Undaunted, he joined the Navy Officers Course, and served as a Patriot Battery controller during the Gulf War.  However, Yuval never abandoned his original dream of being a pilot and after several months, tried again to be accepted for pilot training.  This time, with the medical restriction lifted, he passed the tests successfully. He received excellent evaluations during the course. His Commanders and friends found him to be mature, serious, thorough, funny and unique. Yuval was highly motivated and knew how to promote himself and to exploit the great potential within him. During the pilot’s course he was transferred to navigation and by the end of his course he was assigned to the Phantom squadron. Although that was not the assignment he really wanted, he accepted it with maturity and handled it with motivation and competence, as he handled every challenge. The squadron soon moved to-F16s, with which Yuval quickly became deeply involved, enough to earn the compliment of "a natural navigator" by his peers. Yuval proved outstanding and was rapidly promoted up the squadron chain.

My friend, Yuval, fell on the 20th day of Tammuz 5755 (07/18/1995) while in service to his country, in an aircraft accident off the coast of Rosh HaNikra. With him fell Lt. Col. Ronnie Shlomi. Yuval was promoted posthumously to the rank of captain. He is buried in the military cemetery on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem.  He was only 24 years old at the time of his death. He is survived by his parents, two brothers - Yaron and Amit, and a sister, Michal.

In his letter to the family, Yuval’s Wing Commander wrote: "During his service in the squadron, we found Yuval to be an excellent navigator, a fine officer and a friend .... A young man, modest and humble who made his family and relatives proud. To us Yuval was a true comrade, friend, an exemplary navigator and personal role model. A man who despite his mature and serious nature had a wink of mischief in him.”

I will never forget the day and time when the news of Yuval's plane falling into the Mediterranean Sea broke in my neighborhood.

And I will not forget the week after when the news broke again with the information that his body was found in the sea and he will be brought for burial with his fellow brothers and sisters the defenders of Israel- 
 

MAY THEIR MEMORY BE A BLESSING 
 

AMEN !

Yossi Tanuri | Director General | Jewish Federations of Canada - UIA
( (+ 972 2) 620 2778   |fax: (+ 972 2) 624 7580 | * yossi@uiac.org.il |
JFC-UIA Canada on the Web:www.jewishcanada.org