At funeral, Tal Haimi’s father and sister speak of longing for his company

Tal Haimi is eulogized by his father Zohar Haimi and sister Or Haimi at his Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak funeral, attended by thousands.

“You have returned to us, to our family,” Zohar Haimi says. “Both the personal and close-knit one, and our kibbutz family.”

“Not as we wished — not to embrace you alive, so that you could be a father to a daughter and three sons; a partner to the one who for two years has been running what feels like an orphanage; a brother to your sister Or; and to me, the son who rose up and protected us with his life. [Not as] an uncle to all your nieces and nephews, and a friend to all your friends.”

“Because that’s who you were, a man of family and of people,” Zohar says.

He speaks of the longing for his son, for his kind, blue eyes and his powerful hugs. He also speaks about Lior Rudaeff, a fellow member of the Nir Yitzhak emergency squad who was killed on October 7 in battle, and whose body is still held hostage in Gaza. He speaks of the wait for him and the other remaining hostages’ bodies.

Haimi’s sister, Or, eulogizes her only sibling, remembering their shared language, their dreams as well as her brother’s calm strength and support.

“I don’t want a funeral, and I don’t want to say goodbye,” Or says, adding that she wants her brother there for her sister-in-law and their kids, to be “the uncle who could do anything” for her kids. She longs to plan their father’s birthdays together, to meet at the kibbutz playgrounds at the end of the school day.

“You have to meet Lotan,” she says, referring to her brother’s baby son, born after he was killed. “How much light he brings into dark days, and how much strength there is in each of the children.”