Hatav, Chaim

Haim, son of Hannah and Abraham, was born on 14.3.1954 in Haifa and studied at the Shalom Aleichem elementary school in Lod and at the ORT vocational high school in Jaffa. He studied at the ORT vocational school and worked during the day until he acquired a profession – cooling electricity, he excelled in sports, especially soccer, and was a player in the Betar soccer team. Haim spent a lot of time playing football. He concentrated young people in his neighborhood, guided them and encouraged them to play sports, and so many youngsters had a friend, a guide and an older brother. But most of all he was connected to his parents and sisters and did a lot to help support the family. He was an introverted and serious fellow in his approach to life, and behaved respectfully in adults, and especially he was meticulous in observing the mitzvah of honoring parents. Haim was drafted into the IDF in August 1972 and assigned to the Armored Corps, serving as a truck driver and later as a technical half-track driver in an armored unit. His commanders admired him as a loyal, dedicated and courageous soldier. For his participation in operational activities he was awarded the “Operational Service Award”. When the Yom Kippur War broke out Haim was the driver of a technical half-track in a camp in Sinai, not far from the Suez Canal, and was killed and killed on the first day of the war, October 6, 1973, when the enemy planes bombed the camp. He was brought to eternal rest in the Lod cemetery. Survived by his parents and four sisters. After his fall, he was promoted to sergeant. Chaim’s parents donated a Torah scroll to the Chaim Hatav Synagogue in Lod, which was established in memory of IDF soldiers in the Yom Kippur War.