Master Sgt. Avihay Amsalem, 30: Elbit engineer counseled at-risk youth

Master Sgt. (res.) Avihay Amsalem, 30, from Hadera, was killed on October 9, 2023, battling the Hamas invasion of southern Israel.

Avichay was called up to reserve duty the morning of the Hamas attack, and left the house to join his comrades down south.

Though during his mandatory army service he served in the Kfir Brigade, he pushed to later join the 551st “Arrows of Fire” Reserve Paratroopers Brigade, and joined up with his comrades in the commando unit that weekend.

On October 9, 2023, Avichay was killed in battle with Hamas terrorists who had holed up in an underground bunker near the Sha’ar Hanegev Junction just outside Sderot. Alongside him, Maj. Eitan Neeman and Cpt. Yuval Halivni were also slain in the exchange of fire.

He was buried on October 11 in Hadera. He is survived by his wife, Tal, their two daughters, Talia and Maor, his parents, Ruth and Gavriel and his siblings Shira-Emuna and Liraz.

Several months after he was killed, Avihay’s third daughter, Shahary, was born.

Born and raised in Hadera, the youngest of his siblings, Avichay attended elementary school in the city and high school in Kfar Saba, according to an IDF eulogy.

He then spent several years studying in the Shavei Hevron yeshiva in Hebron, before enlisting in the IDF where he served in the Kfir Brigade. After finishing his mandatory duty, he and his wife Tal settled in the West Bank settlement of Kiryat Arba so he could continue his yeshiva studies.

They then moved back to Hadera and the couple served as live-in parental figures at the Talpiot youth village in the city, where they counseled 12 at-risk youth during their daily life. Avichay was also studying electrical engineering at the Ruppin Academic Center and he worked as an automation engineer at the Elbit defense company.

“Avichay was a very moral guy, he left behind a lot of values which I teach others about and pass on in conversations,” his father, Gabi, told Ynet. “Values of kindness, of integrity, of excellence — at home, in school, at work and in the army.”

Gabi said his son “always aspired to succeed even more. He got into an elite [reserves] unit and excelled there, and at the same time he was modest and humble. He didn’t brag about any of his achievements, and he had many — in his work at Elbit, in his studies, he never boasted or flaunted them.”

His wife, Tal, told Arutz Sheva that deep in her heart she knew that Avihay would not have a long life.

“When Avichay left the house [on October 7] I knew he wouldn’t come back,” she said. “Avichay was a big person, too good, the kind who don’t return. He always told me that if something should happen to him, I should remarry, and I told him ‘you’re too good for this world. You’ll die young.’ This was part of our conversation, it was something we always talked about.”

Tal noted their work at a youth village for at-risk children, saying they “were like parents for 12 at-risk girls, we lived with them and Avichay was a very significant figure, not just for the kids but for the whole village. He knew what was going on with most of the children there.”

She said one Shabbat there they left the synagogue “and all the kids came up to him, and I said to him, ‘You’re the king of the village.’ Everyone was pulled toward him. He had a big soul. He was the best dad to our daughters, the best husband I could ask for.”

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