Less than a month ago he was murdered Tomer MoredA devoted fan of Hapoel Tel Aviv, in the horrific attack on the “Ilka” bar in Tel Aviv. The day after they got up at seven, his family had already had to deal with a first Seder night without him, and today, before the 30th anniversary of his death, they experience a first day of remembrance as a whole family.
“Since what happened, when I am asked how I am, I simply answer the question ‘how are you?’, Because I have no answer to that. We are on a roller coaster of ups and downs, distracted from everyday life and suddenly fall when we understand what happened,” she shares. Tal MoredTomer’s older sister, who openly and painfully agreed to tell about who Tomer was and the difficult days they are going through after learning the hard news.
Tomer was the son of Etty and my son, a younger brother to Tal and Omri and a partner to Ariel, whom he was to marry soon. “Tomer was the youngest in the family. He was very special, and I do not say that because he was my brother or because of this tragic story,” Tal adds. “With his broad arms. From childhood, if he had seen children in a washing class less connected, he would have found a way to get into their hearts.”
“In the army he was a real commander and leader, Tal continued,” Not every commander can be said to be a leader either, but Tomer was like that. His soldiers were so important to him and even at seven they came and said he was like a father to them. He was a man of values and principles. Was stubborn in the good sense of the word, going with his principles to the end. Family was very important to him, in life he would not give up on weekends at home in Kfar Saba, even if it was to come on the last bus on Friday afternoon that gets off really far from home and walk. “Already on Thursdays, he would send messages to ask where to eat and if he did not manage on Friday, he would make sure that we see each other on Saturday, only that the parents would not be alone.”
Apart from his family and fiancée, Tomer had another great love in life, the love for Hapoel Tel Aviv. “When Tomer was born, we lived in Rishon Lezion and were neighbors of the Balili family. Because of the neighborhoods, a good bond developed between the families and my father really liked and connected with Pini. It was a period of success at Hapoel, Tel Aviv following Pini Balili. A year after Tomer was born, we moved to Kfar Saba so he had already grown as a fan operating from birth, but did not get to enjoy the neighborhood with Pini. Once upon a time, when Tomer was about 6 years old, we arranged as a family to have a Friday meal with the Balili family. We surprised him and suddenly Pini Balili appeared at the door and Tomer was unable to speak due to excitement. “
The families continued to keep in touch and in one of the meetings, Tomer was photographed, dressed in Hapoel Tel Aviv clothes, with Pini Balili, whom he admired, by his side. With the publication of Tomer’s name in the media after the attack, Balili even came to comfort the family and the old photo was found inside the photo albums.
The first to receive the bitter news of Tomer’s death was Tal: “That day my parents were on vacation in Eilat and my older brother in the United States, where he lives. I was at home, just bringing plates to the table for dinner when initial reports of an attack in Dizengoff began. I called Tomer and he did not answer so I called Ariel, his fiancée, and she said he was in Ilka with them (his childhood friend, he was also killed in the attack). “As soon as the first photos from the event arrived, we immediately recognized that it was in Ilka, but there was really no thought that anything had happened.”
“His phone rang so I said he would probably answer us soon. I sent both him and them messages, but they did not respond. After half an hour we started worrying and called hospitals to ask if he was among the injured but he did not answer the description of any injured, so I called To my mother and I calmed her down, I said to her ‘Mother, everything is fine, he is not among the injured. Give him a few minutes, say there are phones and keys lying on the floor there, surely he will soon find a way to contact us.’ “.
“I wanted to go to the hospital, but was told not to approach Tel Aviv because the terrorist was still walking around. But on the other hand, where is my brother? No matter who is walking around in Tel Aviv I want to go look for him. The way there I talked to my big brother Omri who wanted to book a plane ticket to Israel and I told him to wait, that maybe it’s just shooting on foot or in the hand, I really had no doubt that everything would be fine. In life, something will happen to Tomer. “
“At the entrance to the hospital I realized it was me. A social worker met me who offered me coffee but I just wanted her to tell me where my brother was. After 20 minutes they felt much better a doctor came in, looked at me and said balconies ‘I’m sorry, Tomer passed away’,” Tal shares in tears. . “He asked if I had any questions, so I asked if he came to the hospital lifeless because I wanted to know if he was suffering, and he confirmed to me that he came lifeless. At this point my parents were already on their way back from Eilat, I called them and asked if they wanted “Wait until they arrive or tell them now, my mother said, ‘Tell me everything,’ so I told her we were done.”
Tomer’s funeral procession set off three days later when over a thousand people came to accompany him on his final journey. Among the escorts are also hundreds of Hapoel Tel Aviv fans, his brothers and sisters to the stands. “It was only when we started walking to the grave plot after the eulogies that I noticed the heavy presence of Hapoel fans. We knew they were sending buses to the event, but we did not understand it would be in such quantity.
“Suddenly some guy started singing a Hapoel song, ‘You will never walk alone’ and everyone sang after him. It was really exciting. We felt the warm embrace of the team, the players, the management and the fans in the weeks that followed, with the ceremony they did in the game two weeks ago. “A. was a significant part of Tomer’s life, he would not give up games and would follow her all over the world. People at work asked me if it was not excessive for me to have everything at the funeral with Hapoel Tel Aviv and I replied that it is impossible not to receive and embrace all the respect they give him. It warms the heart to see how the sport unites everyone. “
When Tal tells about the children in the house, she means Jonathan and Alma, her children and Tomer’s nephews. “Since Alma was born Tomer has been very attached to her. The last Saturday we were together before the disaster, there was a moment when he sat on the armchair in the living room and fed Jonathan a bottle. Alma looked at them and was so delighted so she just came and went under his armpit and put her head there. When he feeds him, it was so exciting. One of the things that hurts me the most in this tragedy is that she will not get to be her uncle anymore. It ends me. They have so many experiences together, it breaks my heart that he will not be a part of life “Of my children. That I will have to tell about the uncle they had.”
“We are in a very great abyss and a very great pain, but I wish we could keep the spirit of Tomer Chaya, and we could return to rejoice and learn to live life without him, but also a little like him, with full of light, love of man, love of country, pleasure and lust for everything for an hour.” Tal concluded in pain.
The late Tomer Mored was a mechanical engineering student at Tel Aviv University, he was hired by a high-tech company where he was supposed to start immediately after Pesach. He was 27 at the time of his death.