Haggai Shalom, CEO and controlling shareholder Tiv Taam: I chose Aner Shapira as my hero because he was endowed with the qualities of a hero. He demonstrated his courage, his nobility, and his great resourcefulness, deciding between saving his own life and the lives of others, when he stood at the door of the shelter and sacrificed his life for them. When I watched one of the interviews with his parents and family, I immediately understood that the love of the country and the love of people are the basic values on which he grew up and was educated.
Sgt. Aner Shapira from Jerusalem was a combat soldier in the elite Nahal unit who was at the fateful Supernova event in the South. Aner hid with dozens of revelers in a small shelter, and with supreme bravery saved many lives with his bare hands. He threw back eight grenades. The last one exploded in his hands and killed him.
This is the story of his heroism, the home he grew up in, and the values he was raised with.
We spoke to his parents, Shira and Moshe, about the story of his heroism.
Tell us about Aner and what you would like people to know about him.
Moshe: The event that happened was just the tip of a 22-year iceberg of the material from which Aner was made. He had a personality of leadership and a love of people. Aner was born 22 years ago, a Jerusalem boy with a great love for music and painting. Until the age of 18, he was a painter; and on the other hand, he really loved sports and fitness. He had a developed sense of justice and love for people. If he saw someone not being properly taken care of, he would get angry and go to their aid. He really liked to sit with people and talk to them.
He wrote songs, composed and sang, and left hundreds of written texts. Dealing with pressing issues in Israeli society is what kept him busy. He attended Himmelfarb High School in Jerusalem and was very, very connected to Jerusalem and Jerusalem musicians.
Shira: Aner had a very cohesive group of friends. They had been together since junior high, boys and girls who were soul mates that not everyone in life gets. They would sit and listen to music, talk about travel in Israel and the world, and have a lot of deep conversations.
Aner really liked agriculture, land, and nature. A year after high school, he attended the Emek preparatory school. He was part of a team that cultivated the Springs Trail. Aner really liked the Emek and the area. When the coronavirus broke out, he was the first to volunteer in agriculture. It was very significant for him to have a daily schedule around soil work -- to get up early and work.
Aner was the oldest of seven brothers and took part in their education with us. Family was very important to him. He was very charismatic. He set the tone in the house, and he cared about everyone. He liked to fool around with his brothers, dance, and make music. Recently he started to love Hapoel, which was part of the Jerusalem scene. Aner really liked to write about Jerusalem. It kept him busy, and he connected to the stories.
Moshe: Aner really wanted to serve in the IDF’s Sayeret Matkal. He passed all the screenings and arrived at training. On the third day, he was injured and had to rehabilitate his knee. He did another army training, and then someone dislocated his shoulder. He underwent surgery and was at home for a year and a half. During that time, he opened a studio at home and made electronic music and began to compose most of the songs he wrote. When he returned to the army, he didn’t want to go back to Matkal and preferred significant service in the brigades and arrived at Nahal. He graduated with distinction (one of 500 who were taken into the unit), and he was an outstanding patrolman. Everyone who knew him talked about how professional and valuable he was. His company commander said he envied him and his qualities. He was a sergeant, and he made a significant contribution to the patrol.
Aner was at the Sufa outpost on the Gaza border, and he went on leave for Simchat Torah. On the eve of the holiday we all had a meal at home, which was not the case on all holidays. After the meal, he went to the Supernova parry with his best friend, Hirsch Goldberg, who is now kidnapped in Gaza. They arrived at the party at one in the morning, and at six-thirty the rocket interceptions began. His commander asked him to get to the base quickly because there was an infiltration and to bring the whole company. They got into the car and started driving. There were gunshots near Re'im. They got into the shelter, which already had 24 people in it, all on top of each other and in hysterics.
Aner calmed them down and said, 'My name is Aner, I am a fighter in the Nahal unit. The army will arrive soon.' Someone said, ‘How beautiful, Aner, how you calm us down,’ but then shouts were heard in Arabic. Everyone lay down, and Aner stood at the entrance to the shelter. He broke a bottle so he could attack if a terrorist entered. The terrorists started throwing grenades into the shelter. Aner threw them all back, but the eighth grenade exploded in his hand and he was seriously wounded. There were also gunshot into the shelter, and they all lay wounded for hours, from eight in the morning. Only at noon did soldiers come to rescue them. Those who were moderately wounded or worse died. Including Aner. Only the slightly wounded who hid among the bodies survived. Three were kidnapped, and two others are missing.
This article was written in cooperation with Haggai Shalom