Moshe Shapira, the father of Aner Shapira, who was murdered in the October 7th massacre, creates special Sukkot decorations in memory of his son, as well as other teachers and rabbis who were murdered by the brutal onslaught of Hamas.
By Rachel Avraham
Moshe Shapira, father of Aner, who was killed in the October 7th massacre, created a Sukkah decoration that incorporates the names of educators and rabbis from the religious Zionist community who fell during the war, Arutz Sheva reported.
Shapira told Aruzt Sheva about the project. “I thought, given my acquaintance with many of the fallen who were men of Torah, fathers of families, who should not have been part of the fighting because they were exempt — and yet they stood up and fought, they are role models to be displayed in the Sukkah. They are worthy teachers to set in front of our children and guests to invite into the Sukkah,” he stated, referencing the tradition of formally inviting seven Biblical patriarchs as ‘guests’, one on each night of Sukkot.
He added, “The goal is to commemorate the teachers and rabbis who fought and fell and showed that the combination of ‘scroll and sword’ is not simply commendable but a foundational combination that guarantees the future of society and the state. I dedicated the decoration to the elevation of the souls of all the heroes who fell in the war and, of course, to the elevation of the soul of my firstborn, my beloved Aner.”
Staff Sgt. Aner Elyakim Shapiro, 22, an unarmed off-duty soldier in the Nahal Brigade’s elite reconnaissance unit, from Jerusalem, was slain while attending the Supernova music festival on October 7, the Times of Israel reported. Aner attended the rave next to the Gaza border with a group of friends from Jerusalem, including his close childhood friend, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, the Times of Israel added. When the rocket fire began, they left via car and stopped on the side of the road to seek safety in a roadside bomb shelter next to Kibbutz Re’im, the Times of Israel noted.
According to the report, Aner and his friends were among the last people to squeeze inside the shelter, where they soon realized that terrorists were gathering outside to attack. The Times of Israel reported that Aner positioned himself at the entrance to the shelter, and in video that later emerged from a dashcam, he can be seen catching and throwing back seven grenades before the eighth exploded and killed him.
Ultimately, of the 27 people who were holed up inside the shelter, only seven emerged alive. Aner and many others, including Ayelet Arnin, Laor Abramov, Tamar Samet and Segev Kizhner were slain inside the shelter. Four people were kidnapped — Alon Ohel, Eliya Cohen, Or Levy — whose wife, Eynav, was murdered there — and Aner’s close friend Hersh, who was murdered in captivity close to a year later.
“Aner Shapiro… saved our lives and he deserves a a medal of honor for being an angel who guarded us,” wrote attack survivor Agam in a Facebook post. Agam, who was herself injured as she crouched inside the doorless shelter, said that when the terrorists first approached, Aner declared his intention to block the grenade attacks and rallied others to help him, the Times of Israel emphasized. According to the report, Aner was buried on Jerusalem’s Mount Herzl on October 13. He is survived by his parents, Shira and Moshe, and his six younger siblings, Talia, Ayala, Ariel, Tamara, Alma and Hila.
Photo from World Mizrachi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPtiHqwbcIM
