Thousands gathered on Friday at the Mount Herzl Military Cemetery to pay their final respects to Major (Res.) Netanel Hershkovitz who fell in battle in the Gaza Strip.
Hershkovitz and two other reservists, Tzvi Matityahu Marantz and Ori Bornstein, fell in a confrontation with terrorists in Jabaliya.
During the funeral, the family sang a tune from the Yom Kippur prayers. Netanel's father revealed that along with the prayer shawl that he had with him during the final battle, there was a Yom Kippur prayer book and a shofar which he intended to blow at the end of the fast.
One of Netanel's brothers asked Nissan Levi a member of the family's community to blow the shofar which Netanel did not merit to blow and no eye remained dry. Levi himself choked up while blowing.
Netanel's father, Meir, eulogized him: "You weren't just a son, you were a friend. We would speak almost every day. It's very difficult for a father to eulogize a son. The way of the world is that the son eulogizes the father. Netanel, give me strength. This decree is too difficult for us. We won't get to see you again."
Liron, Netanel's widow, lamented: "I don't believe I'm standing here right now. Just a moment ago you came home, how I feared this moment, how I tried to push away the thoughts. I part from you today against my will. You were my entire world, and today, my world is destroyed. I don't know how to live this life without you. Who would have believed that I would talk about you in the past tense and that I would lay you to rest? You are still so alive. A good soul, pure, innocent. You were a great man, destined for greatness. Everything you did, you succeeded, there wasn't a thing in the world that you didn't know. You were my support pillar, I can't imagine myself without you. You were everything to me, you filled my life with love and meaning. Without you I'm nothing."