“May this sapling grow tall and strong” – Eli Kay honoured in Israel

“Israel was everything to Eli, and Eli was everything to Israel,” Eli Kay’s father, Avi Kay, told people gathered in the Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael – Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF) Lavi Forest to pay tribute to the South African lone soldier who was brutally murdered last November in a terror attack on his way to work at the Kotel tunnels.

This coming Monday, 21 November, marks a year since Kay’s brutal murder at the hands of a Hamas terrorist.

News of his murder reverberated around the world. From Johannesburg to Modiin, where his family had made aliya, and all across the globe, the news was devastating.

In the wake of his death, more and more people from all walks of life would share stories about how Kay had made an impact on their lives, and many sought to honour his memory with a variety of projects and mitzvot.

“Eli loved all of Israel’s citizens. The words that are inscribed on his tombstone describe that love. It didn’t matter if you were haredi, or secular, or Arab – Eli loved everyone,” Avi said in an emotional speech at the unveiling of a memorial plaque in Kay’s honour.

The KKL-JNF Lavi Forest is situated in the verdant hills of Israel’s north. A moving memorial that pays tribute to the South Africans who fell in defence of Israel is at its heart.

Representatives of KKL-JNF Israel, JNF SA, Telfed, a group of students from South Africa from the MTA Limmud programme, and several others joined the Kay family for this special unveiling.

The names on small plaques on the memorial tell the stories of South Africans who, since before the birth of the modern state of Israel, paid the ultimate sacrifice, in battle or felled in terror attacks. Kay’s name was added, and dedicated with prayers of remembrance.

Focusing his address on the young people gathered, Avi told Kay’s story, “Who was Eli? Eli was a Yeshiva bocher. He made aliya, and as a lone soldier, served in the army. He gave his army service his all. After the army, he found his place and passion in agriculture, working the land. Eli was a South African and South Africa was in his DNA, it was his moral compass, and made him who he was.

“The words said at a brit milah are written at the top of this memorial, and they are fitting,” Avi continued. “The words speak about am Yisrael [the people of Israel], and the memorial contains the names of those who died giving their blood so that we can continue to build this amazing country.”

Avi told the youth representatives from MTA Limmud that they were the next generation, and it was up to them to take what Kay had built and continue to build on that, putting their values first.

In spite of a torrent of rain, everyone gathered around a small sapling that Avi and his son, Kasriel, planted in Kay’s memory.

Avi mentioned that he was planting a tree in the name and memory of Eli, named for his grandfather, Eliyahu, and that he had with him a photograph of his father planting a tree. “We have come full circle,” he said.

Kasriel also spoke about how Kay, an ordinary guy, had made an impact.

As the anniversary of Kay’s brutal murder approaches and the opportunity to reflect on his memory and his extraordinary legacy with it, participants are calling for his tree to take root, growing tall and strong like the impact Kay had on so many.

The KKL-JNF Israel; JNF South Africa, represented by Michael Kransdorff, Bev Schneider, and Isla Feldman; and Telfed, represented by Dorron Kline, were behind this memorial.