Those We Call Heroes

People saving others and making lives better

A caregiver walks with an elderly woman on Jaffa Street in downtown Jerusalem on July 2, 2023. (Nati Shohat/Flash90)

July 4, 2024, 11:27 am

Right-wing MKs seek to eliminate pension payments to foreign caregivers

Bill exempting elderly, sick, disabled from making pension contributions for their aides passes preliminary reading; workers’ hotline warns it may keep good carers away from Israel

By Sue Surkes

The late Noam Ashram and his family, in an undated picture. (courtesy Ashram family)

May 8, 2024, 11:11 am

Website aims to tell stories of fallen soldiers to their young kids

‘Remember with Letters’ founder plans to write out by hand letters submitted by soldiers about their fallen comrades and present them to the bereaved

By Gavriel Fiske

Screen capture from video of members of the Phoenix battalion at a farewell ceremony in Kibbutz Nir. (Channel 12. Used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

February 28, 2024, 12:16 pm

Job done? Retired reservists’ Phoenix tank unit disbands, for now

Group of former soldiers hammered together 5 armored combat companies for Gaza war since Oct.7; army sees its task as completed, but leader hints that it may yet rise again

By ToI Staff

Eran Masas stands on the outskirts of Kibbutz Magen on February 19, 2024. (Canaan Lidor/Times of Israel)

February 20, 2024, 8:34 pm

On Oct. 7 killing grounds, a vigilante army vet inspires grieving US Jewish leaders

Eran Masas tells American visitors how he risked his life – and lied to his wife – to rescue survivors despite having no official mandate to act

By Canaan Lidor

Jaqueline Glicksman (R), 81, recounts jumping out of her safe room's window to escape Hamas terrorists on October 7, on her first visit to her ruined home since the attacks, in a report aired February 1, 2024 (Channel 12 screenshot; used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

February 2, 2024, 4:56 pm

The 81-year-old woman who climbed out the window to escape Hamas

Jaqueline Glicksman visits her ruined house at Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha, describes her harrowing escape from terrorists who burned down her house

By ToI Staff

Nasreen Yousef. (Screenshot taken from Channel 12/Keshet TV, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law).

January 28, 2024, 12:25 pm

How a Druze mom fooled Hamas into revealing its attack plans on Oct. 7, saving her town

From attackers in her yard, Arabic speaker Nasreen Yousef found out where more terrorists were hiding, then got a Hamas operative on the phone and passed critical intel to the IDF

By Sue Surkes

Rabbi and actor Hagay Lober is staging a one-man play in memory of his son, Elisha Yehonatan Lober, a reserve duty soldier killed December 25, 2023, while fighting in Gaza (Courtesy)

January 25, 2024, 1:09 pm

A month after his son fell in battle, a father stages a one-man play about October 7

Hagay Lober, a rabbi and an actor, hopes to bring solace with show about the mourning process, by his Jerusalem’s Aspaklaria theater company

By Jessica Steinberg

Yuval Hizkiya, a paramedic who saved a life under fire, in a Channel 12 report broadcast January 20, 2024. (Screen capture: Channel 12. Used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

January 21, 2024, 12:06 pm

Under fire in Gaza, hero paramedic saved life of tank crew member

When tank in front of her was hit by a rocket, Yuval Hizkiya gave first aid and fired at terrorists, keeping wounded soldier conscious long enough to get him to a hospital

By ToI Staff

Volunteers in the US packing thousands of pairs of certified, army grade boots into duffle bags to ship and donate to Israeli soldiers during ongoing Hamas war. (Courtesy)

January 14, 2024, 4:51 pm

Something is afoot: Volunteers fit IDF soldiers with US military boots amid Hamas war

Brother- and sister-in-law duo in New York and Modiin raise funds to ship and distribute durable, waterproof footwear to front-line fighters; so far, they’ve supplied 10,000 pairs

By Sharon Wrobel

Dairy farm manager Gabo Altmark, a member of the Zikim civil guard, helped prevent Hamas terrorists from entering the kibbutz on October 7, pictured with Ghanian trainee Kwabena Frimpong on Kibbutz Zikim, December 2023. (Bernard Dichek)

January 13, 2024, 1:06 pm

Undeterred by Oct. 7 massacre, foreign interns keep Gaza-periphery dairy farms afloat

Agricultural students from Africa and Asia plant themselves on mostly-evacuated kibbutzim, helping to tend to the herds during a labor shortage

By Bernard Dichek

Shekoufeh 'Chicki' Elghanian, left, and volunteers at her Herzliya apartment, on December 28, 2023. (Gavriel Fiske/TOI)

January 13, 2024, 8:38 am

The Persian-Jewish grandma who wants to feed the entire IDF from her apartment

NYC-raised scion of one of Tehran’s most prominent Jewish families, 84-year-old ‘Chicki’ Elghanian makes 300 meals a day while praying for the destruction of the Iranian regime

By Gavriel Fiske

Undated photo of Tomer Nagar drinking beer. (Courtesy Nagar family)

January 4, 2024, 1:49 pm

Family of fallen Oct. 7 hero Tomer Nagar commissions line of beers in his honor

IDF soldier who singlehandedly fought back against rampaging terrorists at Kissufim base until his last bullet, saving others, is memorialized for his deep fondness for brews

By Stuart Winer

A refurbished tank on the move. (Channel 12 screenshot, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)

January 1, 2024, 2:29 pm

Fixing up old tanks and recruiting old reservists, a tech VP creates a new battalion

Says one new-old recruit: ‘If there’s anyone I’d want to go to battle with, it’s these guys’; Phoenix unit initially replaced tanks on border but has since seen action inside Gaza

By Sue Surkes

Capt. (res.) Sivan Sekeli Ben Zichri (Facebook)

December 18, 2023, 9:52 pm

Officer tasked with arranging constant IDF funerals nearly died after heart gave way

Following weeks of notifying families of fallen loved ones, and non-stop burials, Sivan Sekeli Ben Zichri suffered cardiac arrest caused by tear in heart artery

By Renee Ghert-Zand

Jack Kulbersh lights a menorah (Courtesy: Project Menorah)

December 7, 2023, 8:18 pm

Dad launches ‘Project Menorah’ to support Jews fearful of displaying Hanukkah lights

To combat antisemitism, a Los Angeles-based grassroots initiative invites the non-Jewish public to print and display images of menorahs for passersby to see during the festival

By Matt Lebovic