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Kofstein, Maya

Kofstein, Maya


Daughter of Irit and Eitan. She was born on July 27, 1975 in Jerusalem. Eyal’s eldest sister, Adi and Gal. Maya was a girl with golden curls, a wide smile and rolling laughter, who knew what she wanted from an early age. She began her studies at the State Elementary School in Neve Ya’akov in Jerusalem, continued in junior high school in the neighborhood and graduated from the Rene Kasan High School in Jerusalem. Her choice to study in the sociology track was the result of her love to offer a sympathetic ear and a helping hand for all in need. Maya was raised on the values ​​of Zionism, love of the land and others. As a young woman, she joined the Scouts movement, where she implemented the values ​​she absorbed at home and aspired to educate future generations in a similar way. In addition, she also volunteered for Magen David Adom. She had a wonderful combination of a little girl and mother – inside she hid the soul of a girl who loves to collect hats and balloons, but on the outside she took care of all those around her, strengthened and spoiled them. Maya was a sociable person with the qualities of a teacher and a leader from an early age, and aspired to be a teacher because of the love and patience for children who were inherent in her. She always smiled at everyone, even when she had a “heavy heart,” and that’s how everyone remembers her: a girl-soldier. She was bound by love for her family and was a source of pride for her parents. She was devoted to her crippled sister and had also invested in her other brothers. A close and special relationship developed between her and her parents, whom she regarded as friends. It was her habit to return on Friday from the army with a bouquet of flowers for Mother, a kiss and a hug for Father and when she came home, he immediately wanted to bring her little brother from kindergarten. She waited anxiously to see him enter first grade, and did not win. Maya joined the IDF in mid-November 1993. After completing basic training she was trained as a wireless operator and as a counselor, and at the end of the training period she was assigned to the paratroopers’ training base and became a communications instructor. In her eyes, Maya was very proud of the training string and the red cap, loved the guidance and invested all her energy in transferring the material to the recruits in the best possible way, and her commanders trusted her with her eyes closed.a Maya believed in peace and supported any move that would lead to him, On May 22, 1995, Maya B. was killed She served in the terrorist attack at the Sharon-Beit Lid junction, where she tried to provide assistance to the headquarters that was damaged in the first explosion, and was hit by the second explosion, with twenty-one additional soldiers and one civilian, who was laid to rest in the military cemetery on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem. She left her parents, two brothers and a sister, and was promoted to the rank of sergeant Amnon Lipkin-Shahak wrote to her family: “Maya served as a liaison instructor in the Paratroopers’ training base and was described by her commanders as a responsible soldier who performed her duties with dedication and thoroughness The parachutists and even the Paratroopers’ commanders Integration into the command courses “. In a letter of condolence, the unit commander wrote: “Her dedicated and caring service was an example to all of them … Maya was popular among the soldiers and soldiers of the company, and her smile, as well as her red curls, will not be forgotten.” Maya’s family commemorated her in several ways: donating books to a synagogue in Jerusalem; The establishment of an association that provides scholarships to students from the Rene Kasan School, who invest their time and energy in the care of disabled children; The construction of a public park in Jerusalem in memory of her, and the renovation of the playground in the Alwyn institution in Jerusalem, where her sister, Adi, is located. The garden is named after her. After the attack, a cult was publishedMany of them are in the press and some are mentioned in Maya. Members of the Martyrs’ Families established the Association for the Commemoration of Martyrs of Beit Lid – Hasharon Junction, an association that works to establish a memorial site. The students of the Epshtin Jewish school in Atlanta planted a tree in the “Children’s Forest” in memory of Maya and the other martyrs, in solidarity. On January 16, 2003, GOC Central Command gave the Maya Kufstein a personal citation, which was given to her family: “For the insanity of the soul, the realization of the value of evil through self-risk, courage, resourcefulness and exemplaryness.”

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