Tzayag, Moshe

Moshe, son of Mazal and Mordecai, was born on September 4, 1953, in Petach Tikva. He was eight months old when the family moved to Safed, where he received his elementary education at the Ya’akov Tobias School of Education, and he studied at the military boarding school of the Reali School in Haifa, where he prepared himself for a military career. Moshe focused on the social trend. Moshe was drafted into the IDF in early November 1971 and assigned to the Armored Corps. As part of his service he completed a course in tank professions. After the officers’ course, he served as the commander of the Patons department in the Armored Corps battalion. His comrades-in-arms said: “Second Lieutenant Moshe arrived in the Armored Corps and was appointed commander of our department, which was considered to be the most mediocre. Within a short time he managed to form us into a proper department. He was strict, he was more demanding, but he was handsome and demanding, and so we learned to like him. Once, during a test of battalion fire, the platoon managed to do the shooting very well, and then the battalion commander approached Moshe, embraced him and said to him: ‘You are El Salvador of the battalion.'” Shortly before the war broke out, Moshe volunteered to serve in the regular army. On the first day of the battles, the 10th of Tishrei 5734 (6.10.1973), the day Moshe fell, his comrades told him: “On Yom Kippur, when we were on alert, few of us found time to go and pray in the Refidim synagogue. Lieutenant Moshe was also among us. We were surprised that the young hard-wearing deputy stood holding a prayer book in his hand and singing the Yom Kippur song in the style of his father’s house and was as enthusiastic about prayer as during training. Suddenly the enemy planes attacked us, and we were still praying. We ran to the tanks and galloped forward to battle. Company 8 was assigned to advance towards the “Liquid” post in the central sector. When we reached the battle zone it was already night; It was about 19.30 and no one knew what was going on around him. It took a lot of resourcefulness to get around. Suddenly we entered the ambush of the enemy. The first one was hit by the tank of the company commander, Amos. On the night of October 7, 1973, Moshe Tzaiig served as a tank commander in the battles at the Ismailia junction, and was hit in the battles and died. He was laid to rest in the cemetery in Safed and left behind his parents, two sisters, and a brother.