Ben Ruti and Yoel. Was born on the 18th of Tevet 5731 (15.1.1971) in Merhavia. An active and curious child about everything around him. The three brothers who were born after him received warmth and love. Nadav attended elementary school in Merhavia and continued his studies at the Amakim-Tavor Comprehensive High School in Kibbutz Mizra. Music was an inseparable part of Nadav’s world. He played the saxophone, flute and piano and loved to sing – accompanied by a guitar and others. Nadav loved the studies and the social life in the school school in Mizra and became the central figure on holidays and parties. When he came onstage and appeared – alone and with friends – or when he instructed Arabs and parties – the voices of laughter and joy in the audience rose immediately and those events were etched in memory. Nadav was an apprentice and counselor in Hashomer Hatzair and spent 13 years before his enlistment as a guide in Tiberias, and he loved traveling and loved the desert, and the nature of his inhabitants suited his philosophical soul. At the end of August 1990, Nadav enlisted in the IDF and, thanks to his high grades, was accepted for an Air Force pilot course. Even during this period, which was characterized by intensive studies and endless flight training, he continued to guide parties and meetings, maintain high spirits and play the saxophone, the instrument he loved so much. During his military service, he traveled to the United States for training in the simulator, and did not give up his visit to the New Orleans jazz capital. The authentic black-and-white photographs of the black jazz musicians on the streets of New Orleans are among the finest he left behind. Nadav completed the pilot course as a navigator, and despite his disappointment that he did not finish as a combat pilot, he devoted himself to his new job, studied it and even contributed his original thought when he worked in the operations center at the air force’s underground headquarters. The love of Nadav’s trips and his sense of adventure have not faded yet, and when he went on a month’s vacation, he chose to do it in Kathmandu, Nepal, where Amos returned to his experiences and photographs. In the summer of 1997, after seven years of service as a career officer, Nadav was enrolled in the “Ofek” program – a program that combines military service and studies. Before embarking on the program, he decided to take a break and take a one-year trip to India. Nadav was well prepared for the trip: he spent time learning Hindi at the Indian Embassy in Israel – with the intention of getting closer to the locals and learning in an unmediated way about their culture; He studied the geography of India, studied cultural and economic issues, collected maps as accurate as possible and information from friends who traveled there, and took off. The trip began in the Ladak region – one of the highest areas in northern India, and from there it went down towards Manali. Parts of the trip he made with friends, and other parts alone. “I want to learn the difference between ‘alone’ and ‘loneliness,'” Nadav wrote to his parents. Thus, when he learns to manage alone with nature – to set up a tent, bake a sampa and survive in the cold – he walked about three months. When he reached Manali the winter was at the entrance and the mountain passes were about to close because of the snow. On September 18, 1997, Nadav called his family for the last time. He said he felt great and announced that he was about to leave for a three-week trek in the Colo Valley, a region without media, and that he would telephone when he returned. When three weeks passed and Nadav did not make contact, the fears began to grow, and his family began to search for him. A search team went to northern India and found the films Nadav took at the last guest house where he was staying and which he intended to return to – but they left no hint of where he had gone. Only after a year and a half of search were Nadav’s tracks found, not far from the route to which he left. Nadav fell around the age of twenty-six. sherryHis body was flown to Israel and he was brought to rest in his kibbutz, Merhavia, above the magnificent view of the Jezreel Valley. Survived by parents, three brothers – Uri, Yaniv and Yotam and sister – Shira. After his fall he was promoted to the rank of Major. Nadav’s last trip has been documented in hundreds of photographs and albums in which you can see the fascinating encounters he experienced and his unique perspective. When he photographed people – it seems as if the photograph was taken by a family member, as if the photographed people knew Nadav – and he bribed them. Nadav’s family founded the Nadav Garden in Merhavia. His parents describe: “This is a magical place in the part of the moat that surrounds the hill that was built on top of a Crusader fortress, which contains memories of childhood and war (two shelters built in 1948), children’s games and fear. The life that Nadav could have lived, and the rest of life that Nadav would have wanted us to live, will always be with us. “
