Jerby, Ofer

Ben Tzippora and Yitzhak. A younger brother to Raya, Avi and Shlomi, and a older brother to Eyal. He was born on March 28, 1984, at the Palmachim Air Force Base, where his father served in a number of positions. Later on, the family built their home in the religious Moshav Ben Zakai in the regional council of Hevel Yavne, and here, in the pastoral surroundings, between the fields, orchards and nature reserves, grew up and grew up, felt the deep connection to the land, rode ATVs and dirt bikes, Freedom. Ofer began his studies at the Yavneh State Religious Elementary School, continuing in Yavne, Bialik Elementary School and the Ginsburg Middle School. “A soul boy,” his friends called him, and tell of the beautiful boy with the perfect smile and bright blue eyes who at the age of thirteen was wanted by the media agencies and photographed for commercials, and whose future as a model was guaranteed. At the end of ninth grade, Ofer changed direction and went to the Technological College of the Haifa Air Force (“Technical School”), but returned home during the 11th grade and enrolled at the Ankori High School in Rishon Letzion. He had to be attentive to his real needs, for he decided that the time he had left for the draft would be spent on the beach and in the places he loved, with his motorcycle, Ofer, with his golden hands and the old technical talent, was a man of action and giving. , Help and support the many photographs from his magical adolescence attest to his joy of life, his being open to experiences He liked to play sports, especially soccer, and for several years he played for the Maccabi Yavneh team in the role of goalkeeper, and liked to renovate and use old machines, to spend time with family and friends, As a son of an officer in the Israel Air Force, Ofer sucked the values ​​of love for the country and the defense of the homeland from childhood, and the modeling agency asked him to sign a contract of photographs, but Ofer was interested in the army . Before he was drafted into his military service, and was determined to follow in the footsteps of his great and respectable brother Shlomi, who served as a combatant in the “Engineering Division” Givati, in order to be “the most combatable possible.” On March 13, 2002, He was not too happy and proud of him when he completed the consolidation, and even more, when he finished the arduous warrior’s course and received the long awaited pinch (“Chancikon”) he dreamed of. His parents wrote to him: “A mother’s child in the heart / a little boy with a helmet turned on the back of his life. He dreamed from the time of the kindergarten, of course, that his dream became a real reality and became a combat soldier in the APC.” During the course of the course, Ofer was appointed to the command and at the end of it, he immediately went to the commanders’ training course, “Major,” as described by Major Itzik Cohen, the commander of the platoon. As time passed, Ofer was promoted to the rank of First Sergeant and was commanded by a team headed by an officer whose place was supposed to be replaced. Nati, the commander of Ofer’s team and friend, relates: “Ofer had a spirit of combat and high motivation, a strong desire to contribute. He was a man of action in every aspect of his life. Fought for what he believed and did not give up for a moment, was willing to hear and receive advice from both a friend and a commander. He always smiled as he turned, with himself and his friends. He was able to provide an attentive ear to his subordinates, to support them, to serve as an educator. “Ofer’s period of service, in light of the events of the” tidal wave “- the terrorist days of the Al-Aqsa intifada,And in all these, Ofer demonstrated leadership skills, professional knowledge, courage and brotherhood. During his brief vacations at home he maneuvered between Meital, his girlfriend, whom he loved with all his might, and the family and his friends, and tried to exhaust every moment and opportunity to spend time with the assembled group from the army. A special place was reserved for Rotem, his good friend from Kfar Hanagid. On Thursday, 6.5.2004, Ofer arrived at his parents’ home for a last two-hour visit for dental treatment. At the end of the treatment, Ofer asked his father to take him to the hitchhiking station at Kanot junction. His father urged him to stay another day, but Ofer objected and claimed he had to participate in the briefing, if not, he could not participate in the operation. Father Isaac testified that the moment he dropped Ofer at the station he saw a halo around him, a traveler and his gaze did not go away from him, a soldier with the entire uniform of A. glowing like an angel. This is the last look and immediately returns to its base. At the beginning of next week, in a phone conversation with his mother, he said that he was in an exercise on the Ashkelon beach. On Monday evening, late in the evening, his older sister, Raya, called him and found him in the APC, “Take care, Ofer.” That night, as commander of the armored personnel carrier, he went with his fellow fighters to Operation ” Workshops and lathes for manufacturing Qassam rockets and mortars in the Zeitun neighborhood and the Saja’iya neighborhood in southern Gaza. Ofer did not repeat this operation. First Sergeant Ofer Jerbi fell in battle in the Gaza Strip on May 11, 2004, at the age of 20. After a long night of daring fighting, the forces set out for the Zeitun neighborhood around 6:15 pm, shortly after (Tanger axis) was shot from one of the alleys toward the armored personnel carrier commanded by Ofer, and five of his fighters were carrying an RPG-type shoulder missile. The armored personnel carrier, which was loaded with explosives, exploded into a cloud of fire, and the six soldiers were left with no chance, and all were killed on the spot. Immediately after the explosion, IDF forces took over a large area in the Zeitun neighborhood and worked all day to locate the body parts of the fallen soldiers: “I got up at six in the morning and went into Ofer’s room, I do not know why I did it. Because I do not usually go in there, I opened the closets and started to fix his clothes … In the meantime, I heard on the radio that there were battles in Gaza … Suddenly I came across one of his pictures, and he looked at me from the picture, … I felt that I had to read a chapter of Psalms and lit candles, and a few minutes later I heard knocks on the door. I understood that this was it, that everything I thought in the morning came true, that my Ofer was killed. ” First Sergeant Yaakov (Zelko) Marvitza, Sergeant Aviad Deri, Sergeant Yaakov (Kobi) Mizrachi, Sergeant Eitan (Mordechai) Newman and Sergeant Adron Amar were among those killed. “My Ofer was killed with his subordinates whom he loved so much. “I told him a few weeks ago that he would stop with the operational activity and go into training positions that would allow him to complete some matriculation exams,” I told him, “you have eight months left and you have already tasted enough,” but he He insisted on continuing to serve in the “Samson Foxes” reconnaissance battalion, and he was simply a real ‘poisoned’. Ofer was laid to rest on the 13th of Iyar 5764 (May 13, 2004) in the military section of the cemetery in Yavneh. Survived by parents, sister and three brothers. On his tombstone the words were engraved: “Thank you Ofer for what you were,” the unit commander said to him, “and who you are, only time will teach us how to live without you.” “I see around all the purple berets, and it’s hard for me to believe that I amAnd bury you. Do not worry, dear little brother, we do not forget you, and we know you will keep the family from above. I got proof that your friends are the best. In a letter of condolence to the family, Lt. Col. Ofer Winter, the unit’s commander, wrote: “… Ofer was a professional fighter and an exemplary commander; Energetic and determined to carry out the tasks assigned to him, yet a man with a sense of humor and gold. Ofer loved his soldiers and took care of them, and his eyes always lit up with joy. “Ofer’s friends, the Dekelbaum team’s fighters, wrote:” Jerby. Ofer, our dear friend, our brother! See how in your last moments you have united us all, see how they all came. We were a family of twenty brothers and now we are orphans from a brother. … We have been through more than two years together, two difficult years, full of experiences, memories, difficulties, sad moments and many happy moments. You were so proud, you poisoned us all and made us motivated, Ofer, you who loved life so much, you were never afraid, you did what you wanted, and no one could stand you. “You were so brave, you had a sense of security, you were a very prominent figure in the team, from the very beginning to take responsibility … … you were the one thing you wanted to command in combat … You always stay with us. , In our heart … … love you very very much. ” Wrote to the family Edva Jacob: “… one thing is certain that above the heavens there is an amazing person that we guard, and each time continues to smile in the hope that we will also smile … take the power to move on with a loving loving memory Take the power for your children Take the power, Because everyone is here with you, we will go hand in hand, there is an angel so beautiful that for him we will continue to smile, and hope will never be lost. ” At the memorial service on Memorial Day, the father, Yitzhak, spoke: “Our Ofer, three years without you and the burden is unbearable. In the days of Sefirat HaOmer, you fell, and we were added another difficult count. A count that will last all our lives and even more … for a mission and sacrifice you are born. You’re only twenty and two months old, that’s what you’ve been allotted, and now we know you knew it. A short time, and you wanted to get it all done. … A world of giving and doing was your world. Even when we went on a pruning operation in the orchard, you always said, ‘Let’s continue another line to finish quickly’ … You knew there was no time, and we did not understand. Volunteering and help were your privilege. One of the last Fridays in your life, and you’re still in uniform, called to replace a solar heater that exploded in your sister’s house. Very quickly bringing a new heater and replacing it. The tenant said, ‘I saw an angel who works and does a perfect job. I was privileged to be with him for an hour, “she said. And you can not forget Ofer’s tree – a large olive tree that you planted with your own hands right next to the terrible day. Our hands are also at your friend’s house … Our Ofer, you had no gold hands, did not take a moment to improve your equipment for battle. In the military language, he constantly ‘refutes’. … You can say that Uncle Dimit. Beautiful eyes that were given with great courage. You went on a mission to which you selected five of your best soldiers. Six heroes of the Corps went on a mission of sacrifice and did not return. … “We will continue to tell and hear in your praise, as the prophet Jeremiah says,” For my words, which we remember, we will remember again. “Vered Pereg, a childhood friend, wrote:” It is hard to lose a friend who has been with you for many years. / Hard to lose a friend whose evil wanted to eliminate. / It’s hard to lose a friend whose angelic beauty is blinding. / It is difficult to lose a friend whose years he did not have time to realize. “It’s hard to lose a friend without explanation …” The father’s eulogy on the sixth anniversary of the fall of his son: “Ofer, my dear son. … The family grew up, nephews who did not know you were born, they will hear about the heroic uncle they had, they will certainly learn about you”Your nephew, who you so loved, Roi, recently took part in the school in the Moreshet series, where the lecturer talked a lot about the battles of Givati, and he spoke extensively about the heroism of a courageous young commander named Ofer Jerbi. The lecturer asked if anyone knew Ofer; He saw, sadly and with great pride, raised his hand and said, ‘I know, he is my uncle.’ … Six years have passed since you fell in battle, you, Ofer, and your soldiers, soldiers you loved and they admired you very much as a commander and as a friend. “On the day after Ofer’s fall, on May 12, 2004, the second APC disaster occurred at the Philadelphi Route, in which five more soldiers were killed, and during the search for the remains of their bodies, two more fighters were killed. In memory of the fallen, Haim Ben-Asher from Bat Yam wrote the song “The New Hills”: “Six in the morning – a feeling of suffocation, the news announcer cried out and groaned, and those are the names of the soldiers. , / These are the names of the soldiers, / Five are not coming back. // APC and another APC, / Explosion and another explosion, / And nothing moved, / Nothing went. And / or, they are no longer there … / / soldiers trembling, in awe and pride / attacking the area with love … / / kneeling and searching, / the remains of the crew and the friends … / … // The heart is thrilled and shiver, And to the person / basis for added value, / to the IDF and to the gathered people. “Ofer, the grandson of Yisrael Blumenthal, a veteran of Be’er Ya’akov, was immortalized in the” Ofer Square “that was established in his name, in memory of the six killed in the Ma’ale Adumim synagogue. Another memorial to the fallen is a classroom built in Mitzpeh Eilat in the form of an armored personnel carrier, maintaining and ensuring the integration of the landscape, nature and the environment. “On Facebook, “In her return, she wrote down her impressions and dedicated a poem to her son:” My dear son, my hero soldier, you did not choose how to fall / stick to life, you wanted to fight / you chose your soldiers at the end // You went into a happy and proud battle / But at the end of the battle, an explosion / And you did not win / The force returned, you stayed behind // Steel melted from the heat wave / If you go out on a mission you did not return / Six angels were added in the sky / It seems that you were needed there / We will join hands and look up to heaven / And we will always remember you heroes. “