05/01/2025
Community Recalls Fallen Soldiers, Terror Victims
Moran Chajmovic, left, watches as her daughter, Eden-Li, lights the memorial candle. Together they represented the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces. CJN Photo / Abigail Preiszig
Article reprinted with permission from Cleveland Jewish News
by Abigail Preiszig
The Cleveland Jewish community united on April 29 in honor of Yom Hazikaron, Israel’s Remembrance Day.
More than 500 attendees gathered at Park Synagogue in Pepper Pike to honor fallen members of the Israel Defense Forces and victims of terror alongside a delegation of Israeli guests.
“Their presence is more than symbolic,” Rabbi Joshua Skoff, senior rabbi at Park Synagogue, said before the opening prayer. “It reflects the deep and ongoing bond between Jewish Cleveland and the people of Israel despite living thousands of miles apart.
Our connection is rooted in shared history, values and a shared sense of responsibility. When Israel mourns, we mourn. When Israel remembers, we remember. Tonight, we stand in grief, in memory and in unity.”
Through the theme, “We forever live in remembrance,” the evening provided continuity to the names and stories of 398 soldiers and victims of terror who died for Israel since last year’s commemoration and the 25,022 others who had fallen before them, according to the program.
Five members of the Israeli delegation honored the memories of those they lost in battle. Members of the audience were invited to stand and state the names of personal loses before the siren of remembrance sounded.
Col. Einat Elbalek honored Capt. Haggai Chaim Lev, who died on July 10, 2002. Maj. Gal Rosen honored Lt. Col. Tomer Greenberg, who died on Dec. 12, 2023. Lt. Ziv Ben Chaim honored Oz Ardi, who died on Dec. 14, 2023. Lt. Avigail Feinberg honored Capt. Shauli Greenglick, who died in December 2024. Maj. Salah Halabi honored Capt. Amir Halabi, who died in March 2005, and Col. Ihsan Daqsa, who died in October 2024.
“Many in Jewish Cleveland are also commemorating loved ones on Yom Hazikaron,” Zevi Kershner, event co-chair with Bev Uria and Dana Attias, said. “... Even if we did not know them personally, their absence is felt in all our hearts.”
Yoram Sawady shared a personal story about the loss of his brother, Yoel Sawady, on June 9, 1967, during the Six-Day War. He said he related to the story of a sister’s fear of forgetting her brother that died in 2014 during the Israeli-Gaza war known as “Operation Protective Edge.”
During various phases of his life, his brother was next to him and continues to live inside of him “in a special place in my heart,” he said.
Ori Bar, Gon Erez and Emri Arusi performed “To the Chill of the Morning,” a poem turned song from Yoel Sawady’s notebook.
“It happened almost 60 years ago, but the memories are still vivid,” Sawady said. “A mixture of feelings of deep sorrow, of longing, of pain and of rage are burning deep in my guts – all feel so fresh and raw – like it just happened yesterday.”
Albalek, an officer serving in the IDF for 23 years and a commander in the IDF Education and Youth Corps, was away from Israel on Yom Hazikaron for the first time in her life. She shared a story about her family and offered a prayer for the safe return of the soldiers of the IDF.
She remembered IDF members Tom Ish- Shalom and Daniel Alloush, who both died in a September 2024 helicopter crash on their way to rescue her brother-in-law, Dr. Eyal Heyman, a senior pediatrician at Shaarey Tzedek Hospital in Jerusalem, Albalek said. Although seriously injured, Heyman survived his mission in the Gaza Strip.
“For many months, I’ve been watching Eyal and our family as we go through the long process of healing,” Albalek said. “The road is long, but he has an unwavering spirit to go on and honor the memories of Daniel and Tom.
“These are days of war and bravery, in which joy and sorrow exist side by side, personal issues and national interests intersect, and grief co-exists with renewal. I stand here deeply moved by your warm embrace, which has supported us for so many years.”
Clarinetist Stas Golovin played a piece in honor of those murdered during the Oct. 7, 2023, surprise attack on Israel by Hamas and the subsequent war, known as the Swords of Iron War, while a video in remembrance of the victims at the Nova music festival played.
Moran Chajmovic lit the memorial candle with her daughter, Eden-Li, representing the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces.
Wreaths were placed by Yoel Sawady and Ember Sawady, representing the Israeli American community in Cleveland, for all victims of war; Albalek and Sari Mordechai, representing of the visiting Israeli delegation including the Israel Defense Forces Education Corps and Youth Futures, for those missing in action and prisoners of war, including the 59 hostages still in captivity in Gaza; Joe Hendlin and Mara Hendlin, representing the Jewish Federation of Cleveland’s Young Leadership Division, for those whose place of burial is unknown; and Adena Klineman and Jonathan Klineman, representing the Jewish Federation of Cleveland, for victims of acts of terror.
Students and adults from Gross Schechter Day School and Park Synagogue Sunday school, both in Pepper Pike, and the Joseph and Florence Mandel Jewish Day School in Beachwood, representing the local Jewish school children, and Cleveland shinshinim, representing the local teen community, placed the final wreath in honor of all the children and teen victims of war and terror.
Rabbi Yael Dadoun of Congregation Mishkan Or in Beachwood, and her husband, Joe Naroditsky, read the poem “Dear Families,” written by Izi Man, in Hebrew and English, respectively.
Nomie Bental and Mark Sack read the poem “The Path of Bereavement” by Lipa Aharoni in Hebrew and English, respectively.
Arie Teomi and Rabbi Hal Rudin-Luria, senior rabbi of B’nai Jeshurun Congregation in Pepper Pike, read the Yizkor prayer in Hebrew and English, respectively.
Rabbi Binyamin Blau, senior rabbi of Green Road Synagogue in Beachwood, read a prayer for the hostages.
Dave Matkowsky sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” and Gadi Galili and Stav Avisar sang “El Malei Rachamim.”
The commemoration closed with the singing of “Hatikvah” led by the Cleveland shinshinim and the visiting Israeli delegation.
