Fogel, Moshe

Moshe, son of Esther and David, a Holocaust survivor who immigrated to Israel on the illegal immigrant ship “Knesset Yisrael” and was sent by the British to the Cyprus camps, was born on Passover eve, April 23, 1948 in Pardes Hanna. As a member of a religious family, he studied at the Yeshurun ​​religious public school in Pardes-Chana and continued his studies at the “Noam” Midrasha, also in Pardes Hanna. Because of his great desire to continue to learn Torah, he went on to continue his studies at Yeshivat Mercaz HaRav in Jerusalem. He was a diligent and open-minded student, and excelled in painting, art and handicrafts. He had “golden hands” and from childhood loved to dismantle and reassemble instruments and mechanisms. Everything he did was stamped with his signature: punctuality and originality. He was a member of the religious youth movement “Bnei Akiva” and was known among his friends as strict observance of all the commandments, light and severe. Moshe was drafted into the IDF in late August 1967 and volunteered for the Armored Corps, where he completed a tank training course and was ordained as a tank gunner, and was sent to the tank commanders course, where he served with honors and served as an officer in most of the fire incidents against the Egyptians. Despite the hard life of the army, when the tank was used as a “home” in battles and training, Moshe did not abandon his devotion to religion and mitzvot, even at the expense of rest or sleep. “The prayer for the battle,” and his friends followed him as one man “Amen.” Moshe was a very sociable guy. He loved his commanders and his friends, and in the most difficult situations he knew how to keep his cool and did not lose his sense of humor, and he used to distribute every package he received from his home, and when he returned from vacation everyone would gather around him and enjoy the delicacies he brought. He studied at the Technion branch in Beer-Sheva and a year later moved to Haifa and continued his studies at the Technion, specializing in production engineering and management. Even after his marriage, Moshe remained loyal and connected to his parents and the concern for his family – his and his parents – was at the top of his mind. When the Yom Kippur War broke out, Moshe was called to his unit straight from the synagogue. With his comrades he fought in the bloody battles against the Egyptians. His tank friends were deeply impressed by his great loyalty to the religious precepts he was careful to fulfill despite the long battles. With his unit, he crossed the canal to the western direction and on the 21st of Tishrei 5734 (17.10.1973), during the battle for the purification of the Abu Sultan camps, his tank was hit by anti-tank fire and Moshe was hit and killed and brought to eternal rest in the Pardes Hanna cemetery. His son, who was born after his fall, bears the name Moshe-Avichai, and Moshe’s father set up a large collection of Passover Haggadot in his memory, including the precious Haggadot.