Ben Sima and Jacob. He was born on October 30, 1975 in Jerusalem. Tzachi was the eldest son and from the day he was born until his death was the pride of the family. He began his studies at the “Paula Ben Gurion” elementary school in Jerusalem and graduated from the Hebrew Gymnasium where he studied in the biological track. Tzachi, a cute young man full of hair, illuminated the day of his loved ones with a captivating smile that constantly adorned his face. He was active in the Scouts movement in the Masada tribe and was involved in social life. Much exercise, especially basketball. Tzachi belonged to the Hapoel Avraham team of Hapoel Jerusalem and played for eight years. The many hours he devoted to coaching and his perseverance in the field earned him trophies and medals for his game and contribution to the team. Another pleasure was his trip around the country. He enjoyed the study of various districts and used to return to sites whose landscapes were dear to him. After graduating, he went to Sinai, to enjoy the desert freedom and tranquility before he was drafted. Tzachi waited impatiently for the draft. He tried to join the naval commando, and during his high school years he even took part in training at the Gadna diving unit, He was recruited to compulsory service at the beginning of April 1994 and was assigned to field corps as a combat soldier in an operational intelligence unit. Tzahi soon emerged as a leader and central figure, loved and admired in the unit. His trademark was a big smile constantly on his face. He was an example of his friends and never feared the great responsibility that lay on his shoulders. Tzahi was chosen as an outstanding soldier by the commanders and soldiers of the unit, and received a certificate of appreciation for his contribution to the unit. As in his civilian life, so in the army, Tzachi reached impressive athletic achievements and made great pride in his unit in fitness and navigation competitions. He won first place in the navigation championship of the “Gaash” unit in the personal track and won his unit in second place in the “Combat Runners Following Fighters” competition. In addition, he was awarded a medal of excellence at the end of the symbols track in the Joe Alon Forest. It was only natural for Tzachi to go to the army. Indeed, in August 1995, he went to an officer’s course. There, too, he stood out for his talent and was awarded a certificate of excellence in the Bauer exam. At the end of the course he was the commander of a team in the intelligence unit of the “Gaash” unit. He took over an operational team that was sent to serve in the most northern position of the IDF in the security zone – the Reihan outpost, where he was responsible for the performance of his team and fulfilled his mission in an admirable way Tzahi took an active part in the fighting for the security of the northern communities Who was a loyal friend and a beloved commander: “Always trying to encourage in an original way, always ready. To listen and sometimes, even when you have to go down on someone, just to be heard, To understand your advice. “On May 30, 1996, Tzahi was killed in a battle in Lebanon when he went up to the” Pillars House “post to visit his soldiers who were there, and an IDF force moved near the offices of the Red Cross in the town Marge Browse. Two soldiers were wounded from the explosion. Tzahi was among the forces that went out to help the wounded when the terrorists detonated another explosive device. Tzachi was killed by this explosion. With whom Lt. Col. Yoram D. was killedHan, Captain Moshe Harush and First Sergeant Yitzhak Shapira. Two other officers were wounded. At the age of twenty-one Tzachi was falling. He was laid to rest in the military cemetery on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem. After his fall he was promoted to lieutenant. Survived by his parents and two brothers – Zion and Lior. In his letter of condolence to the bereaved family, the unit commander wrote: “With great sorrow, I say goodbye to your son … In his service as a soldier, he stood out as a leader and was greatly appreciated, which made Tzachi a natural and beloved leader among his friends … Once said: ‘If commanders inspire trust, love and adherence to their soldiers, every Hebrew mother who has given the fate of her son to the commanders worthy of them will know.’ “Tzahi was indeed such a commander. The unit in which the piquet served was a memorial book containing letters and poems of soldiers and commanders telling about Tzachi. In his dedication to Tzahi, the commander of the unit wrote: “A man, a fighter and an officer who on his way to his soldiers paid with his life, in his death left us the memory of his smile and the optimism of a commander to demand his soldiers, but of himself more, and with the same passion to care for their feelings and problems.” His colleague in the unit wrote: “Tzahi did not die simply, by mistake, Tzahi knew what he was doing in Lebanon, and he knew why he was doing it there, and he did not look at his role as a Russian roulette. He came to Lebanon and did his job as he knew and believed it should be done … This is the order I am getting from my forehead, not an order of discouragement, but a reverse order, an order of strengthening, an order of courage and initiative, an order of perfectionism. Tzahi helps everyone and carries them all on the stretcher and does not move from it and suddenly you open your eyes and you see him lying in the closet and everyone is carrying him and he can not do anything ” Tzahi remained indifferent, a person with high spirits, a smile and laughter, as if it were obvious that after nine months in the army he was supposed to sit in the Reihan observation and manage everything without “Tzahi knew how to set himself a goal and reach it stage by stage, and he did it best of all …” A poem written by Tzachi’s friends in his memory: “We lost a child who insisted on growing up at any price, / We lost him in a world that was too big, , / Between the parts of clothing, of too many soldiers, / who fell there before him, too easily. / We wanted to plead with him, that he would stay soon his age, / with his big eyes But he ran, rushed, thought something would run away if he waited, / We wanted him to remain Peter Pan, if only for a quarter of an eternity, I have lost him, one day, / In a world that is too big, / In a world so big / so big, / In a world that is so big / That it is very easy, in a world like this, / to be lost … “
