Last Friday, shortly before Shabbat began, Dov and Tehila Cohen of Shadmot Mehola returned home from the funeral of local Elchanan Ariel Klein, who was murdered the day before in a terrorist attack in Samaria. While they were busy preparing for Shabbat, two military men stood at the entrance and told them that their son, Maj. Yehuda Nathan Cohen, a company commander in the Givati Patrol, had been killed in battle in the northern Gaza Strip.
Shadmot Mehola in the Jordan Valley is a settlement made up of members of religious Zionism. 143 families, 680 inhabitants. Since the beginning of the war, no sirens have sounded - but death has come to visit, and more than twice. On Sunday, the mourning community was informed that Rabbi Naran Eshhar, of the Shadmot Neria Yeshiva, had also died after being critically wounded in a tank overturn in the north.
Shadmot Mehola, Jordan Valley, Photo: Moshe Yishai
"I feel that their deaths were not accidental," Maj. Cohen's sister, Yeska, said yesterday. "There is a connection to the land and Torah in the Yishuv, which leads directly to endless devotion and defense of the homeland."
First to battle
It is said in Shadmot Mehola that the three who were killed could have finished their military service - but that was not an option for them: Yehuda (25) wanted to lower his profile because of hearing problems, and he reached the Givati brigade commander. Elhanan (29) was supposed to be released from reserve duty, but he demanded to stay with his friends. The late Naaran, 33, donated a kidney four months ago and was exempt from service, but when the war broke out he went all the way to the head of the transplant department to get permission to join the front.
"Naaran was a huge soul," says Yehuda Tropper, brother of Minister Hili Tropper, who lives in the village. "He played for preschoolers, and equally connected with adults. On one Saturday, the adults invited him to spend time with them. On Friday night he played for them, the next day he gave lessons and in one of the talks he talked about death. Zuzik, 33, talks to 60-plus-year-olds about death. People came out excited, so young and so deep. I, who is 20 years his senior, felt that this was a character to learn from."
The funeral of Rabbi Naaran Eshhar at the military cemetery on Mount Herzl, photo: Aryeh Leib Abrams/Flash90
Rabbi Eshhar left behind a wife and two children. Elchanan left behind a wife and three children. He was born and raised in Shadmot Mehola, but after the wedding he moved to the religious community of Einav in Samaria.
"A year and a half ago, Elchanan made a line as a reservist," says Menachem Tzur, director of the community who is sick. "He was on an administrative trip, and between Givat Assaf and Beit El he saw an attack in front of his eyes. A terrorist with a rock came to a car with a woman inside, broke the window and tried to open the door. Klein realized within a split second what was happening and killed the terrorist. He received an award of excellence from the division commander."
"Judah fights with his head held high"
Shadmot Mehola is a modest settlement with special people. Major Yehuda Cohen was a daring reconnaissance soldier who rarely spoke about what he went through. After he was jumped out of the house on October 7, he and his soldiers fought valiantly at Kibbutz Nahal Oz and saved quite a few residents. When the family asked what he had done, he replied: "Guards."
Only to Amichai's brother-in-law's father, Menachem Ansbacher – who was the observation commander in the fierce battle at Tel Saki in the Yom Kippur War – Yehuda Sims on October 13. "Only after the battles calmed down did I begin to try to digest," he wrote, "and there I felt your fortitude and heroism 50 years ago seep into us. May we merit to continue the chain of generations in a worthy manner."
His family says he was influenced by history, especially the Holocaust period, which was passed through the family stories. "He was proud to be a fighter," says his sister Vered. "He really felt that entire generations who dreamed of the Land of Israel were sitting on his shoulders – and so he went into battle. It comforts us that he is fighting with his head held high."
From the shiva on Captain Yehuda Nathan Cohen, photo: Moshe Shai
The family does not know how Yehuda was killed, but his deputy's parents, who visited their home, showed them a text message sent by their son, who is now fighting in the Gaza Strip: "Yehuda saved the entire company with his death, not a millimeter less." People kept coming to the Cohen family home and telling about the great warrior who left. His mother Tehila said that with all the pain, they would go on with their lives, but it was important for her to add: "On Simchat Torah evening, I spoke with my son about things that bothered us all, and therefore my blood burns so that we will not return to the same place.
"Our leadership is disappointing in the way it is leading, and this war provides an opportunity to conduct a national inquiry and understand who the real enemy is. We must move forward. If at the end of the battles the world follows its custom, it will be a huge miss."
At the exit from the Cohen family home stood a memorial booklet. One of the pages featured a poem written by Yinon Eliya Tomer Maimon, brother-in-law of Major Cohen z"l:
"There are no alarms in Shadmot Mehola
There are no missiles or warnings in Shadmot.
That's why Shadmot didn't hear
It's death to knock on windows here."
"Yehuda, Naaran and Elchanan died out of endless devotion to the homeland"
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