Maor Shalom, 46: Retired Shin Bet agent who wrote his own eulogy

Maor Rafael Shalom, 46, a retired Shin Bet agent, from Arugot, was killed on October 7 battling the Hamas invasion of southern Israel.

Though Maor had retired from the Shin Bet a year earlier, he still served as a reservist with an extra-military unit within the Defense Ministry.

With the start of the attack, Maor headed toward the front lines and joined up with three other fighters, battling in a number of communities before arriving in the hard-hit Kibbutz Kfar Aza, according to an online memorial page.

There they joined up with a group of combat soldiers who were trying to counter the heavy Hamas gunfire and together headed to rescue civilians. They spotted a cell of four terrorists and managed to kill three of them, and Maor exited the jeep in order to get a better angle. He was hit with heavy gunfire from hidden Hamas gunmen and was killed.

Maor was buried in Kfar Ahim shortly before his 47th birthday. He is survived by his wife, Hila, their three children, Yair, Barak and Sahar, his parents, Sima and Shlomo and his siblings Naomi, Boaz and Yehonatan.

Maor began his service in the Shin Bet in 2000, according to a eulogy from the intelligence agency.

The Shin Bet eulogy said that over the years Maor “dealt impressively with significant changes, gained experience and served in a number of challenging positions, both operational and managerial while maintaining a steadfastness and an uncompromising execution of his role.” Maor, it said, was “humble, authentic, attentive, tolerant and empathetic… with deep-rooted Zionist values, he was a role model to many.”

In 2022, Maor retired from active service with the Shin Bet, in order to spend more time with his family and be more active in his community, but enlisted in a reserves unit connected to the agency.

He and his wife and three children made their home in the small community of Arugot outside Kiryat Malachi. Maor was an active volunteer and member in a number of organizations, including as an EMT with United Hatzalah, the Yedidim organization to assist stranded motorists and the Israeli Association of PPC (powered parachute) Pilots.

The PPC organization remembered Maor as “doing everything with an endless smile that infected and delighted his copilots in the southern group… To us, Maor was one of a kind, always helping and always looking forward to the next flight.”

Roi Asraf, who met Maor through Yedidim, wrote on Facebook that through their work, “I was blessed with a great man of kindness, who chased good deeds and helped everyone without hesitation.” Roi said that whenever he asked Maor about his work with the Defense Ministry, “he would say that he was simply a lowly clerk. So much modesty… He gave of his time, his energy out of his love for the land of Israel. He was a man who could be described as the salt of the earth.”

At his funeral, a eulogy written by Maor was read out, in which he said, “You don’t need to say too many things about me, I was just one of 8 billion people. Not the most talented, not the most important. I came, I lived, and I will return to dust.”

“Don’t be sad because of me,” he continued. “I lived a full life with you. Continue to be happy together, because there is so much left in life. If I come up in your memories, I have one final request from you — don’t be sad, just smile.”

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