Ben Nitza and Yigal. Was born on 13.4.1981 at a weight of 3,330 kg in Tel Hashomer Hospital as a gift to the family, and as an amazing gift, the birth was also a very special experience, a birth on a chair. Shai was born to a warm and loving family, a brother to Siegel and Gili, a young son born 14 years after his sister’s birth and 10 years after his brother’s birth. A playful, independent, sweet and lively child, all of whom loved and were easily attached to him. His development was very rapid, he was early to talk and go. At first his mother raised him with pleasure and pleasure, and when the maternity leave ended, he was brought up by a hot nurse until he moved to the kindergarten where he quickly integrated. Shai grew up in Rishon Letzion and studied at the Hadarim Elementary School and the Zalman Aran Middle School, and his teachers say that Shai’s beauty was expressed not only in his externality, but in his sense of pleasantness and quality. His eyes are a quiet boy with a developed sense of humor, caring and responsible, a great student who is always diligent in perfection, a friendly boy, loved by everyone and always surrounded by friends. “By the end of his high school studies, Shay had been persistent in the Maccabi Elitzur team and had made contact with the team members during his studies Vadim was his brother abroad: Gil worked in Vienna and Sigal studied business administration at the University of Cambridge for a master’s degree. The family met in London and went on a family trip, like the trips she used to do in Israel. Shai and his brother were very close and Sigal felt like his second mother. Shai used to tell his brother that he, the little boy, stayed to keep the parents. In honor of Shai’s bar mitzvah, the family went on a trip to Orlando and a nature trip in the Canadian Rockies. The trip was pleasurable and Shai spoke fluent English and discovered independence. Shai was gifted with painting skills and it was only natural that at Gan Nachum High School he would choose to study graphic design. During his studies he traveled to Italy for an art trip. The teachers and students noted that Shai was the “living spirit” on the trip. Shai loved his teachers and the many friends he had acquired. He finished high school with a high school diploma with fine grades. His teachers said that Shai was a very special boy, who attracted attention in his appearance, tall and beautiful, calm, quiet and noble, very rational, with a natural, dynamic joy of life that loved what he did and took things with pleasure. During his spare time, he volunteered for the Civil Guard and Magen David Adom and did everything in the best possible way. At the same time, he took part in a patrol group of the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI). In addition to learning diving, the relationship with his brothers grew stronger, they dived in Sharm and enjoyed the joint experience (since Gil was killed, Gil stopped diving because he claimed that only Shai felt safe diving). Before his enlistment in the IDF, Shai was very interested in the army and read books in the field, and was active in pre-military activity for about a year to be ready for recruitment. He underwent basic training and a course for commanders in the Adam facility, and on February 20, 2000, he began a parachute training course, and Shai was outstanding at all stages of the course: A week before his 20th birthday, on Thursday, While fulfilling his duties. He was laid to rest at the military cemetery in Rishon Letzion. Survived by his parents, sister, brother and grandmother. The students of the Gan Nahum high school, where Shai studied, accompanied the family for a year, gathered things from friends and teachers and published a book to remember it. The commander of the parachuting school, Colonel Haim, writes: “A month ago, I received command of the unit. This month I met you Shai on several occasionsI saw a smart guy with a captivating smile, with a sparkle in his eyes, and your extraordinary desire to belong to the family of the parachuting parachuting instructors in a home rooted in values of excellence. “Shai, my dear brother. / How did you go so suddenly / in the middle of life / When I occasionally think about your future / And how beautiful he will be / With talent I remember how you were born / such a beautiful baby / and I’m your big sister / I loved to help you grow up // I remember the conversations with your friends / About dungeons I remember you went to the Sayeret circle and volunteered for MDA and the diving course so that she could dive with my age. And I remember that you hesitated to learn close because you said, “And who will protect the parents?” And how proud you always were / what you did and where you turned, but I wanted you to know that you continue to accompany me on the way / with that charming smile and joy of life. “Gili, Shai’s brother, writes to him in one of his poems: I’ll look up and see you smile at me, / And know that at least you’re not alone, / That you’re starting a new path, / And with your kindness I’m sure you’ll be welcomed there. From time to time, do not forget to throw us a sign of your existence, / rainbow / beautiful sunset / and wind on the sea / just know that you are good there now. “From Gili’s words about diving experiences with Shay:” Shay made a dive license at the age of 14, perfect. Because of his swimming experience it was a pleasure to dive with him more than anyone else (and believe me, because I dived with dozens of people). And indeed, from the day Shai got a diving license, most of my dives were with him. I remember dozens of amazing diving experiences with Shai … I know that there is nothing that Shai liked more than the deep, deep blue of the depths and whenever he had a chance to dive and unfortunately my time was small. The last three dives of Shai and I were together two days before his induction, and I assume that with the death of the dive, too. “Oded, Shai’s friend, writes:” I remember at the age of nine, we found our common plan, We also ran the love of the books and the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit, which we liked every hour for hours. The roads / with the bike on the way to the Palmachim (even on Yom Kippur …) / and then on the beach crawling and even in the cold to the island swim, / eat something and return to the first happy and happy …. “Reut, his girlfriend Shai from MDA, writes to him: “… you know, sometimes I come to the MDA station, look around and look for you. Looking for that charming smile, looking for your joy of life. Always, even when I had the worst feeling, I could not resist this magic, humanity. You know, I’m sure the patients also profited from it … True, you do not always think what it means to be a volunteer, but know what, I think it’s something inherent in nature. You need this empathy, you need willpower. And sometimes, you’re right, it’s not so appreciated, but you and I know it’s worth it. And then we were in combat mode. If you did not attract me, I would probably retire after the first lesson. Every time I was near you, I absorbed more and more of your motivation. I loved those skirmishes on the street below the house. I’ll never forget what pride I felt when I saw you in full uniform, with a briefcase”Shai’s friends write:” You have to say that Shai was a special guy, and you can not say that Shai was a regular guy. Do you want examples? We’ll start with patrols: he has a talent for guidance, but everyone has mistakes. In the preparations for the “Salat” (free tour), Shay and Oded had to give guidance, and Shai did not want to show fear of the audience, so he tried to behave in “nonchalance.” , But for the sake of not giving himself up he went on as if nothing had happened, and it was superfluous to say that this training was the best in all the SELA (of course, according to the objective opinion of Oded and Shai). Another example of the lack of routine was a trip to Sinai, when he decided that in Sinai he would behave like a kabu according to the well-known saying, ‘In Rome you will behave like a Roman,’ so he decided to wear a week of galabia. The problem was that he wore only a galabiya, and proved to us more than once that it was really so… There was no doubt that Shai was an excellent navigator. During a tour of navigations we had all the guys were wrong and passed the point we needed to get to and only Shai, in his special nonchalance asked the guide: ‘What is it, should not be here?’ And of course justice, thus saving the dignity of the whole circle. And we will move on to the MDA period, which began before volunteering when Shai decided to give new names to well-known medical concepts, names that people still use, and continued with the TARAN when Shishi and the guys decided to go through every possible rule, such as stealth in the middle of the night to the classroom , Which happened to be the girls’ quarters too. Shai decided to get in there in his underwear, and of course, like every good story, he was caught that way … and there are also the stories of the guys. Every week on Friday Shai would arrive with his nice car and a liter and a half of water on the soccer field in the hope of unloading and sometimes even the pressure on the company after an exhausting week of studies. His markings were strange gasps and applause when he ran on the field and then everyone knew how to escape and hide, because Shay would have reached the peak of the pressure release and the best goalkeeper in the world could not (or at all agree) stand in the way of the ball that came out of Shai’s leg. Shai knew when to laugh and when to be serious. Each of us will forever bear something silk and will always feel it. Shai, we love you and we always love you, miss you and think about you all the time, you’re missing us. “Shai’s friend writes:” Shai’s friends were one they all love, a volcano filled with joy, full of self-confidence, The Friday night was a holy day for soccer and friends, a soccer player who loved to cheer after every goal he scored. / The guys say that Shai was among the brave: / One day they went for a walk, See, / Of course they were afraid, / Shay began to throw stones at him / And despite the panic of the two friends / The bull fled quickly. / Shai was among the first recruits, but he also did not forget the members. He felt that something was shaking him. / And when he woke up, he saw that it was Shai and no other / who got a short vacation from the army. / The news of the fall was hard and bitter / and attacked the friends / Some of them were already deep in the army / Be in the beginning. “
