On the morning of October 7th, Yishai Slotki's alarm clock did not ring. The ringing was replaced by thundering sirens, which sent his family and all the residents of Beer Sheva to their protected areas. In their building, the confused neighbors gathered in the stairwell. The newsflashes alongside the commotion at the scene made it clear to Yishai that Israel was entering a war.
Yishai did not have time for morning prayers. He changed from his Shabbat clothes and put on his army uniform, taking his gun. He accompanied his wife Avia and their baby daughter, Be’eri Shachar, who was just two months old, as they went to a nearby building where his brother Noam lived. When they arrived, Yishai said goodbye to his family. His brother, Noam followed, bidding farewell to his wife Adi, and their son, Netta Yehuda, who was just 16 months old. Yishai and Noam were going to help protect the Jews in danger living near the Gaza border, Otef Aza, which had been attacked by rockets and a terrorist infiltration.
The brothers left in two cars but managed to meet up and get into one car to fight together. The long way to Otef Aza revealed to them that the once pastoral landscape where they had gone on many past trips for nature walks, had now become a battlefield. All through the dangerous drive the brothers did not stop because they understood that a brave heart was needed to protect the land and its people and a hero does not stand on the side when his Jewish brothers are in need. They continued driving south and parked at a deserted bus stop in Kibbutz Alumim. And then they charged forward.
The sirens were still sounding overhead as rockets were shot from Gaza at the Jewish farmland and kibbutzim but now there were also bullets whistling around them. Yishai and Noam waged a fierce battle, shoulder to shoulder, against dozens of terrorists who were attacking near the kibbutz fence. They waged an exhaustive battle, as documented by their phone’s GPS locations, and street cameras filmed their courage and heroism, as the pair of brothers battled against terrorists. That day the brothers fell in battle together and their bravery will be always remembered.
On their final journey together, the honored soldiers were carried along many miles of streets lined with people holding the flag of Israel. The brothers united Jews of all types - religious, secular and ultra-Orthodox. All cried with the Slotki family who lost two heroic sons, who will forever remind us all that we are all brothers living together shoulder to shoulder.
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