Avi Mor, 61: Lover of animals with a green thumb
Murdered in Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7
Avi Mor, 61, was murdered by Hamas terrorists in his home in Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7.
Mor, the son of two Holocaust survivors, is survived by his three children, Roi, Gil and Tomer, his twin sister, Yael, and younger brother, Boaz. He was buried on October 19 in Kibbutz Revivim. His former father-in-law, Raffi Mordo, was also murdered in the Hamas onslaught, and buried the same day.
His childhood friend, Tsvika Yechilzuke, recalled growing up with him in Givatayim, and visiting him a number of years ago in Be’eri, “where he established his family and lived most of his life until that cursed Saturday.” Learning of his death, he wrote, “slowly brings back memories of from being dumb teenagers, amid the sadness.”
The kibbutz eulogy described Mor as being very active in his life, bike riding, playing tennis, and working out at the gym, but also as a film buff and a big reader, who cherished his set of encyclopedias. He was a huge lover of animals, collecting a large number of cats and dogs along the years.
Over the years he worked at a variety of jobs in the kibbutz, the eulogy noted, including as a tennis coach, at the print house, in gardening and later washing cars at the auto shop. Even when he wasn’t officially working as a gardener, he would always take care of the kibbutz greenery and his own yard and gardens with great care.
He met his wife, Tamira, when he was 16 during a visit to Kibbutz Be’eri, and years later they married and settled on the kibbutz, where she had grown up, and they raised their own family.
During the First Lebanon War in 1982, the eulogy recounted, he was called up to the reserves, stationed at Beaufort in south Lebanon. He returned, the kibbutz wrote, “with scars on his soul. From reserves he came home a different person.” He and Tamira ultimately got divorced.
His son, Tomer, was cited as still recalling happy memories among his father’s many struggles, noting their “trips in nature, kumzitz [bonfire] with sweet hot tea they made together, sleeping in a tent, going bowling, traveling to Eilat… playing matkot [paddle ball] on the Tel Aviv beach and making huge sand castles, which he would always send photos of to Yael.”
