David and Tal Shalev, 75 & 53: Father, son slain in kibbutz they loved

David “Fritz” Shalev, 75, and his oldest son Tal Shalev, 53, who was visiting his father, were murdered by Hamas terrorists in the family home in Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7.

They were considered missing until November 7, when they were determined to have been killed. A funeral service was held on November 10 in Kibbutz Lahav.

They were survived by their wife and mother, Bracha — who was out of the country on October 7 — and four younger children/siblings, Gai, Shai, Gali and Ziv. Tal is also survived by his daughter, Hadar, and David had eight other grandchildren.

The kibbutz said David, the son of Holocaust survivors, arrived there in the late 1960s with a group of other youths. He eventually became head of the kibbutz’s field crops and worked in agriculture for many years, as well as earning a master’s degree in electrical engineering and working in that field.

Tal was born on the kibbutz and grew up there. He later left and lived in the center of the country and worked as a materials engineer, before switching fields to work in alternate medicine.

Rakefet Pere memorialized the father and son at their funeral. She was “adopted” by the Shalevs when she was in a pre-military prep school at Nir Oz more than 25 years ago.

Pere recounted many of the memories from the times she spent with the family, “talking into the night with Tal about everything and nothing, walking to the kibbutz pub every Thursday night for a beer with David and Tal, or just with David; the cynical jokes at the Friday night dinner table.”

“David was a wonderful combination of completely secular and righteous in the way he lived. His ability to live life in the most simple way, to enjoy the little things made him extremely rich. Wine, Sheridan’s liquor, good coffee, swimming in the reservoir, books, and a thirst for knowledge, his love of work and inventions, his enormous love for Bracha and the kids and later his grandkids, love of travel, tai chi… He was cynical and sharp but loved people like no other.”

Tal’s childhood friend, Ido, said at his funeral that he “stood out as a talented and diligent worker” in several different areas of the kibbutz, most prominently working with its horses “which you loved so much.” But what stood out the most, he said, “was your strong connection to your nuclear family… Such a united family wasn’t typical on the kibbutz at that time.”

Shai, David’s son and Tal’s brother, eulogized them at their funeral.

“Tal was a wonderful older brother,” he said, recalling their time together riding horses, “he had a very unique relationship with the horses, I’d never seen anything like it… He was very sensitive, it was like he knew how to speak to the animals… He had and will always have a special place in my heart, and I love him.”

Shai said his father had many talents “from helping with math homework to fixing a flat bicycle tire or fixing anything at all… He wasn’t the most warm and embracing dad, but over the years Grandma Bracha softened him up and opened him up, and slowly the flower that he was emerged. He turned into a dad and grandfather of hugs, of treats… He was an incredible grandfather to the kids of all the siblings, and a special father to me.”

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