Bota, Shalom

Son of Zahara and Nissim, was born on July 8, 1930 in Damar, Yemen. As a child, he studied in the “cheder” and in the Talmud Torah, where he continued to study in the Beit Midrash of Rabbi Yosef Dahari in his hometown, where his sharpness and wit were revealed. Shalom was familiar with the laws of slaughter and midrashim. From his youth he aspired to immigrate to Eretz Israel, and gathered around him a group of young people who also aspired to immigrate to Israel, even without the permission of their parents, even though they were minors. In 1942 he took money and jewelry from his parents to finance the expenses of the journey, arrived in the port city of Aden and boarded a ship that took him to Egypt and hid in a hiding place for travelers. He settled in the new Maccabi neighborhood in Tel Aviv, where he volunteered and was assigned to the Givati ​​Brigade, and on July 17-18, 1948, a “Death to the Intruder” was carried out, in an attempt to break through to the Negev. They failed to break through the fortifications of the Egyptians and were forced to retreat in the face of a superior force. Shalom was missing in action, leaving parents and two sisters. On January 21, 1951, his body was found and he was brought to eternal rest in the military cemetery at Nahalat Yitzhak.