Written by Courtney Byres
Posted Jan 16, 2024 in the Cleveland Jewish News
As Alan and Lorin Gottlieb of Pepper Pike stayed in touch with Israel Defense Forces soldier and IMPACT! Scholar Omri Ben Shachar following the Oct. 7 attack in Israel, he ended each message with “Don’t worry. We’re strong here. We’ll be OK.”
On Dec. 8, Ben Shachar was killed while fighting in Khan Yunis, a city in the southern Gaza Strip. Ben Shachar was the third scholar whose education the Gottliebs had sponsored through FIDF’s IMPACT! Scholarship program. The program pairs donors with former combat and combat support soldiers from economically disadvantaged backgrounds to cover living expenses and a four-year scholarship as they complete their higher education.
“One of the things his father said to me when I talked to him right after the funeral was, he said, ‘The future of the state of Israel rests on the shoulder of young men like my son,’” Alan Gottlieb told the Cleveland Jewish News. “And I said, ‘You know, you’re right, but unfortunately you paid the ultimate price.’”
Ben Shachar, 25, of Givatayim, was the son of Anat and Reuven, who is a former mayor of Givatayim, a twin brother to Nadav and boyfriend of five years to Lior Mechorish.
Even a month after his death, his father still finds it hard to believe he is gone, but spoke of his son’s smile, positive energy and ability to make friends everywhere he went – characteristics that the dozens of speakers at his funeral also recalled.
“In his short life, … he lived. He did a lot of things,” Reuven Ben Shachar told the CJN. “Some people say that in 25 years he did what some others don’t do in many more years, but still very sad that he lived that short. He could’ve done many things in the future for Israel and for the world.”
Following Oct. 7, Ben Shachar was called up immediately and sent the Gottliebs a video from the base of him and other reservists singing “Hatikvah,” Israel’s national anthem. He served in the 55th Brigade’s 6623rd Battalion as a master sergeant.
When the Gottliebs shared pictures while attending the rally for Israel on Nov. 14 in Washington, D.C., Ben Shachar responded with “we feel your strength.” His last message to the Gottliebs about two or three weeks before his death was to inform them he was going into Gaza and would not have his phone to be able to communicate.
“He felt that he should do the best he can for his country, for his family, for the society, for Israel,” Reuven Ben Shachar said.
Through the program, Ben Shachar, who was studying electrical engineering at Tel Aviv University, was required to complete volunteer hours during his four-year education. This led him to spend time building a relationship with a local Holocaust survivor, Moshe Adler, who he came to call his friend and who attended Ben Shachar’s funeral.
“I have a lot of respect for the IMPACT! program, the scholarship program of the friends of the IDF for soldiers who served in fighting units,” Reuven Ben Shachar said. “The program allowed for Omri to be involved with a holocaust survivor and with the community. IMPACT! does important work with students who are reserve soldiers in fighting units. Mr. Alan Gottlieb and his wife donated the scholarship that helped my son study and support and help a Holocaust survivor who became an important person in Omri’s life.”
As the Gottliebs, who are congregants of B’nai Jeshurun Congregation in Pepper Pike, travel to Israel every year, they were able to meet Omri Ben Shachar and his girlfriend for the first and only time face-to-face last August. Following that meeting, Ben Shachar called his family to report about the generous and kind people he met that were supporting his education, the Gottliebs and his father said.
“He was just such a good, young man,” Alan Gottlieb said. “You can tell he’s a very warm and inviting personality. And it’s a huge loss for the country that we lost a precious asset. … By going into (electrical) engineering, he really wanted to do something with his life and really contribute.”
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