Ruhama Hershkovitz, mother of the late educator and reserve soldier Sergeant Major (res.) Yossi Hershkovitz, who fell in battle in northern Gaza nearly two years ago, shared a deeply moving photo she received from the Mor family.
Zvika Mor, father of captivity survivor Eitan Mor, sent Ruhama a photo showing Eitan holding an Israeli flag bearing a picture of the late Yossi and a heartfelt message he once wrote.
The inscription on the flag reads: "How can I give more for the people and the country at every moment? I love and miss you, Yossi."
Alongside the image, Eitan’s father, Zvika Mor, added his own message: "Thank you with all my heart. We are always with you."
Later this month will mark two years since Hershkovitz, a resident of Gva’ot in Gush Etzion, fell during Operation Iron Swords. He was 44 years old. Despite his age, he volunteered to serve in the reserves and joined the fighting. He is survived by his wife, Hadas, and their five children.
Yossi served as principal of the Ort Pelech Banim High School in Jerusalem, an institution with about 600 students. His colleagues and friends described him as an outstanding educator and a man of integrity and vision - a leader admired by students, staff, and parents alike.
Before his death, Yossi left behind personal letters to his wife, his children, and his parents, Ruhama and Yaakov. His family later shared the letter he wrote to them.
"Mom and Dad, how are you? With God’s help, I am perfectly fine and grateful to be part of protecting the humiliated people of God, who can now begin to raise their heads amid the destruction our Nazi enemies have wrought. It is not easy to be on the home front. I feel your prayers surround me and protect me. Continue to pray with all your strength - great miracles are happening here. You raised me to give without taking, and with God’s help, I am privileged to be part of an amazing nation, a people who give their whole souls for Am Yisrael."
He continued: "So much slander has been spoken about our nation in the past year - and all of it false. We are all here, fighting shoulder to shoulder, as one man with one heart. The feeling is like Mount Sinai. I am grateful you raised me this way, to ask not what I deserve but how I can give more for the people and the country at every moment. Love and miss you, Yossi."