Bar-Menachem, Meni Eliezer
Ben Luba and Simha. He was born on the eve of Yom Kippur, on September 14, 1975, in Vienna, Austria, where he was the eldest son of a traditional and observant family, and his mother was a very open child, without fear of strangers, He was born in Kiryat Arba in the Kiryat Arba elementary school in the religious state school “Achinoam” “” Or Etzion “junior high school and” Ginogli “high school, very kind child, very welcoming and open to contact with people. His class in high school marked two basic values in Manny’s personality, the value of friendship, his dedication and devotion to his friends, and the value of love for Eretz Yisrael.In his youth, Manny was an enthusiastic activist in the Bnei Akiva youth movement, Of the Society for the Protection of Nature. According to his friends, Manny stood out in his enthusiasm for the songs of the Land of Israel, who enjoyed singing Arik Einstein in the heart of the desert, enjoying the simplicity surrounding it. Risk and adventure were his strong point. There was a kind of youthful haste in him, but at the same time, seriousness and depth. Did not accept things as they were-he always found other sides that others did not think of, and that was what made him unique. Manny combined his determination and strong willpower to succeed and reach the goal at any price. He has a high sensitivity, a willingness to listen and an ability to understand and accept the opinions of others. With a noble soul, who understood the needs of others and even before he asked, had already laid down everything and wanted to help. Any harm to the other was an injury to him. Meni had a tremendous love for the Land of Israel and a tremendous desire to continue to travel in Merhavia. Sde Boker became his second home. The expanses spoke to him and the landscape was like air to breathe. Manny loved the sea and the dive to the depths and admired the strength of the Negev and the desert. His love for this land is expressed in a poem he wrote: “The desert cries, the silence / the tree of the system is like the sound of the shofar, the sound of the shofar is strong and strong, the mountain trembles … … And what is their sin? They will never know. / Only voices / lightning and fire in the cloud / You will never know. ” At the beginning of August 1994, Meni was drafted into the IDF, volunteered for the Paratroopers Brigade and began a basic training course in the paratroopers’ paratroopers unit. His friends say that he was an optimistic and spontaneous guy with a passion for excellence. On October 16, 1994, Manny fell in the line of duty and was laid to rest in the military cemetery on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem. Survived by his parents, sister Dina and brother Ika. He was nineteen when he fell. In his letter of consolation to the family, the unit commander wrote: “Meni was the social ‘motive’ in his department … His strong desire to succeed and his ability to invest led him on his way … There was no limit to his desire to help his friends. It is doubtful that the expression ‘salt of the earth’ is said and written about people like Mani. ” The family members commemorated his name in the book of remembrance that they published. This is how the father wrote in the poem “Region D part 9”: “… Sadness descended on the desert / / Dry the eyebrows, / The waterfalls are orphaned, / The birds of the sky are holidays / drunks. The same sunrise / not the same sunset / so will testify the Arabs / about the missing boy … “
