Shimon, son of Esther and Joseph, was born on the 11th of Av 5713 (23.7.1953) in Safed. He studied at the “Choni haMaagel” elementary school in Hatzor Haglilit and later completed his studies at the “Noam” Midreshet in Pardes Hannah. He was an outstanding student and was actually accepted to school at the age of five, thanks to his great cleverness and special talents. After his first year of studies, he skipped second grade and continued to study in third grade. According to his teacher, he excelled in his diligence, his devotion to studies, and his seriousness. He had excellent talents, virtues, simplicity and honesty in his ways with his teachers and friends. As a student he was brilliant, sharp-minded, and articulate. In his measurements and behavior he was pleasant, humble, comfortable and kind. Indeed, they labored in the Torah, his arrival, his diligence, and his humility were for nothing. He was also one of the most outstanding students in the “Noam” school. Shimon was tall and tall. They combined nobility, education and power. Was a devoted and loyal son to his parents and was exemplary in his respect for his father and mother, his brothers and sisters. He loved others and taught everyone right. According to a special arrangement, he was enrolled in the academic reserve and he is only sixteen and a half years old. He intended to study mathematics and psychology, but due to his many talents, he was asked to take the entrance exams to the new Faculty of Jewish Law, which was then opened at Bar-Ilan University. He was among the top thirty, selected from among the hundreds of candidates. After one year of study he was called to report for regular military service. He was going to marry his friend. Shimon was drafted into the IDF at the beginning of May 1971. In one of his first months of service, he was interviewed by Major General Shlomo Goren, the Chief Military Rabbi of the IDF, and offered to serve as Chief Rabbi of the IDF Chief Rabbinate. He rejected this proposal and asked to be sent to a combat unit. Therefore, he was sent to the Golani brigade for which he was proud. After completing basic training, he completed a course for squad commanders and was an outstanding trainee. He was recommended to increase the rank of officers even before the customary period of stay between rank and rank was completed. As a fighter he participated in the battles of the War of Attrition, the pursuit and the cleansing of the Gaza Strip from terrorists. During the Yom Kippur War he participated in the pursuit of commando forces that landed in the area. From there he fought to fight the bloody battle over the Hermon conquest. His commander testifies to him, who fought valiantly and with supreme devotion. Following his participation in this battle he was appointed deputy company commander and promoted to lieutenant. On December 6, 1973, in the region of Peak, near the Qabatiya junction, Shimon fell in the line of duty and was brought to eternal rest in the cemetery in Hatzor Haglilit, leaving a father, mother of four brothers and three sisters. His commander wrote: “Shimon fulfilled with great devotion all that was imposed on him. He was an example to his soldiers in his peace and quiet, even in the most difficult moments, “said his battalion commander on the memorial night in the synagogue:” Shimon always radiated light around him. He sang peace and quiet. “He was the child of a rabbinical court in his righteousness, a man in his manhood, a man of his size and an old man in his wisdom.” His parents published a pamphlet in his memory and his poems , A letter to his friends about his image and photographs, a synagogue in Hatzor Haglilit named after Heichal Shimon, in memory of which he organized a “knitted skullcap for a resident of the settlement of the book” and a Torah scroll in his memory. “Hatzofe,” Shimon was told about the following story: “At that time, one graduate of the Midrasha, a young officer of AiRat Hazor, Shimon Buchnik, who aroused the attention of the senior commanders. Three times he bravely fought the Hermon, and in one of the actions Shimon was sad. His commanders asked him and he was ashamed that his tefillin had been lost during the fighting. The brigade commander, his friends said, gave an order to bring the phylacteries to the officer in the first helicopter to rise to the level. “So Simon’s joy was boundless …”
