Mordechai Kadmon

Mordechai Kadmon, the son of Michal and Yitzhak, was born on 9 December 2000 and grew up in Sha'alvim. He was the brother of Hodaya, Tehila, Elad, Yishai, Yonatan, Renana and Naomi. He attended Shalhevet Banim School and Sha'alvim Yeshiva, and his family had close ties to the local educational institutions. His father, Rabbi Yitzhak, and his mother, Michal, worked in education, and his grandparents, Rabbi Zvi and Miriam Samuel, were among the founders of Nof Ayalon and the Sha'alvim educational campus.

On 18 June 2020 he enlisted in the IDF and served in the Engineering Corps. He was a combat soldier in the 601st Battalion and later became an officer and platoon commander. A report about the memorial initiative established by his family described him as a career officer nearing the end of his fourth year in the army. His family was looking forward to his approaching discharge, and at his funeral his sister Hodaya spoke of the anxiety that had accompanied his service and the hope that he would return home. Battalion commander Shai Tubul described a courteous officer who acted out of a sense of mission and love for his country.

Alongside his service, memories remained of him as a family member and friend. His father recalled that at home he was a loving and beloved son, who helped and organized whatever was needed. Hodaya spoke of a custom he had kept for years: baking birthday cakes for his friends. As his twenty-fourth birthday approached, the family chose to continue that tradition through the Cake with Love initiative. Participants made cakes and gave them to neighbors, friends and soldiers. Cakes were distributed in different parts of the country, and family members also visited Shaare Zedek and ALYN hospitals in Jerusalem.

Mordechai fell on 22 July 2024, 16 Tammuz 5784, aged twenty-three. According to press reports, he was killed by a grenade explosion in the Gaza Strip outside operational activity. He was laid to rest in the military section in Modi'in and is survived by his parents and seven siblings. His family continues to remember him through acts of giving, following the personal tradition he left behind. May his memory be a blessing.