Leibowitz, Shamai-Elazar

Ben Etta and Joseph. He was born on 18.8.1981 in the settlement of Keshet in the Golan Heights. He is the son of a family of ten, a brother to Yehuda, Bat Zion, Yedidya, Rivka, Akiva, Bezalel, Zvika, Hillel and Shilo. As a child, the family moved to Hebron, in the Avraham Avinu neighborhood near the Tomb of the Patriarchs, where he grew up and was educated. Shammai Elazar attended the “Hebron” Talmud Torah school in Kiryat Arba, and went on to Yeshiva Netivot Yosef in Mitzpeh Yericho. He was also an apprentice and counselor in the Bnei Akiva branch in Hebron. From the day they moved to Hebron, Shamai Elazar aspired to be an active partner in the expansion of settlement in the area. He decided to take part in establishing the settlements in Yesha, and towards the end of high school he left school and settled in Giv’at Olam in Samaria, where he, together with people he loved and admired, worked for more than two years, Shammai Elazar was educated on the values ​​of the Land of Israel, the people of Israel and the Torah of Israel, values ​​that were very dear to him, very connected to Hebron, the city of the Patriarchs and the settlers, he loved to help everyone, In March 2000, Shamai Elazar enlisted in the IDF. It was important for him to serve in a combat unit, and following efforts he was accepted to the Nahal Brigade, to the ‘Ravav’ unit, and began his combat career, serving mainly in the Samaria area. On May 26, 2002, Shamai Elazar fell in a terrorist attack in front of a friend in the South Hebron Hills. On his way home from his base, he was shot by terrorists and killed on the spot. He was twenty-one years old when he fell, on the eve of his birthday. Shammai Elazar was laid to rest in the ancient cemetery in Hebron, near the area of ​​the martyrs of 1929. His last resting place overlooks the city and the house he loved so much, leaving behind his parents and nine brothers and sisters.