Ziv Pepe Shapira

From Nir Am.

Our eldest son, Ziv, was born on the 26th of Adar I, 5757 (March 5, 1997) in Eilat. When he was three weeks old, we returned home to Mishmar HaNegev, and when he was five and a half, following my marriage to Patrick, we moved to Nir Am, where we built our home together.

Ziv joined Shikma Kindergarten and later attended Sha’ar HaNegev School. Within a short time, he connected with everyone around him and formed many friendships. Throughout the years, he was active in the HaNoar HaOved VeHaLomed youth movement. In high school, he studied bass guitar at the music studio and became a member of the band formed there.

At the end of 2015, Ziv began a year of national service in Sde Boker as part of a Nahal group, where the Manor family embraced him as one of their own. He worked in various branches of the kibbutz and, together with friends, established and operated a local pub.

Afterward, he enlisted in the Nahal Brigade. At the age of nineteen, he moved into his first apartment in Nir Am, in the caravan neighborhood. Ziv decorated the walls of his caravan with beautiful drawings of his own creation and even wrote a poem inspired by one of them:

“A small spark of longing appears, like a distant planet. But when you come closer, it is actually a tiny, delicate snowflake that melts in your hands as if it had never been there. And all that remains of it is the feeling that it was there…”

In 2019, he traveled to Hungary, where he worked with friends in security at a manufacturing plant. When the COVID-19 pandemic began, he returned to Israel and lived with his parents for a short time before moving into his second home in the young residents’ neighborhood. There, he adopted his dog, Luffy, planted real roses in his yard, and created a warm and welcoming home that was always full of close friends.

Ziv had the soul of an artist. He would find discarded pieces of wire and weave them together, transforming them into beautiful flowers that he planted in pots.

As a hobby, he studied jewelry making and created beautiful pieces. Professionally, he trained in pipe welding and worked in the field while also studying the stock market. At his last workplace, Aaron Hamo Company, he excelled and advanced significantly. He was loved by everyone who knew him.

Music festivals and gatherings were a major part of Ziv’s life. He attended many events throughout Israel and traveled with friends to festivals across Europe. He also began promoting events in Israel and started composing music of his own. He left behind a sketch of a melody he never had the chance to complete.

It was only natural that he would attend the Nova Festival near Re’im. He never returned. He was only twenty-six years old when the war cut his life short.

The poem he wrote on the walls of his caravan took on a new meaning for our family after he was murdered by Hamas terrorists. It was later included in a project dedicated to setting to music poems written by those who fell in the Iron Swords War, and the poem was engraved on his gravestone.

Ziv loved life, and life loved him in return. He always did things his own way, and personal freedom was deeply important to him.

We will never forget, and we will never forgive, the dark and cursed Sabbath that changed our lives forever.

Ziv is survived by his parents — Tami Cohen Shapira and Patrick Cohen, who raised him; Yechiel Sabag, his biological father; and his five brothers: Aviel, Mor, Tal, Gil, and Dan.

Our beloved son, we miss you more than words can express. Your absence is felt in every corner of our lives. I gave birth to four sons, and I will always have four sons.

May his memory be a blessing.