Ze’ev Heker

Zehava and Ze’ev Heker, of Blessed Memory, a great love story.

Zehava was born on 13 December 1954 in Givatayim, and at age nine, arrived as an external student (Yaldat Hutz) on Be’eri. Rina and Avraham Hevron were her adoptive family. She was a shy child who hardly uttered a word, and grew up strikingly beautiful, with long dark hair, dignified and sensitive. Zehava served in the IDF in the Golani Operations Command. When she was released, she returned to civilian life via Nahal Na’aran in the Jordan Valley as an emissary of Kibbutz Be’eri. At Na’aran, she managed the vegetable garden, where she met Ze’ev.

Ze’ev was born 27 February 1951 on Gan Yoshiya, the first child born on the Moshav. He was a child any parent would love, filled them with pride, and was adored by his teachers. He was clever, direct, and hated lies. At aged ten, he moved with his family to Moshav Tkuma, where he enjoyed a happy childhood. His parents educated him from an early age to be independent and brave, and gave him chores, like riding in the dark to fetch milk, and without him knowing, followed from a distance. Once he went on a hike with his brother, Pinchas, and their dog, Outlaw. Suddenly they heard firing. Apparently, the firing originated from Gaza, and Outlaw shielded Zeev and his brother with his body.

Ze’ev studied at the Mikvah Agricultural High School, and that period molded him personally and professionally, turning him into a person of the land. He had a talent for building transistor radios, and travelled into Tel Aviv to buy parts, putting them together from scratch. He was also a strong chess player, and won second place in a high-school championship.

In his army service, he was a tank commander. He had already boarded a bus to take a holiday after being demobilized, when the Yom Kippur War broke out. Ze’ev fought in Sinai, where his tank was hit twice, and twice during the war he changed tanks. The war was a significant event in his life, and he recounted it in many stories to his children.

At age 24, Ze’ev arrived at Na’aran, in the Jordan Valley, and worked there in agriculture. Amongst other things, he was responsible for the water supply. He lived the life of a cowboy, riding around armed with a Kalashnikov, between enemy Arab villages, in a period during which there were many infiltrations from Jordan. At Na’aran, Ze’ev met the love of his life – Zehava, and she met the love of her life – Ze’ev.

Ze’ev fell in love with Zehava after he understood that she knew how to tell the difference between weeds and watermelon. After two weeks, Zehava spoke to her younger brother, Avi, and told him that she had met a gingi – a redhead. She asked that Avi come and visit. When Avi arrived, he was amazed at the bond between them: Ze’ev gazed at Zehava in marvel, and similarly, she gazed back at him. It did not stop nor diminish for all the world. They continued to look at each other like that for 46 years. Ze’ev followed Zehava to Be’eri. They married on May 7, 1978, and their three children were raised at Be’eri: Limor, Dvir and Hagay.

Zehava worked in several positions on the Kibbutz. She managed a department at Be’eri Print, and worked long hours every day. For several years she worked as a caregiver at the primary school, where the children liked her so much they continued to visit her long after leaving. Zehava loved to help other people. She had a special talent to see the good in each person, and to be positive and complimentary. Girlfriends poured out their hearts to her, and people were drawn to her like a magnet. Ze’ev said of her, “No matter where we were, everyone loved Zehava”. She was creative and industrious, and nurtured a home and spectacular garden, concocted natural soaps, prepared dried fruits, and learnt to grow succulent plants. She had a heart of gold, hands of gold, and everything she touched turned to gold, as her name – Zehava/Goldie - implies. She was devoted to all her work and gave infinitely. Zehava was interested in spirituality and the human soul, and learnt and became knowledgeable in this field by reading copiously and taking courses. Ze’ev was a man of the land, a farmer through and through, and served as the Director of Agriculture on Be’eri. He occasionally held other positions on the Kibbutz, but always returned to farming. He grew gladiolas, potatoes, wheat, peanuts, maize, and peas.

Ze’ev was a humble man, and a perfectionist. He held very high standards, and said of good work, “This was carried out by the rulebook”. Many farmers came to learn from him and consult with him. Every time anew, he loved to work, to sow, to water, and to harvest.  At one point, he was his son Hagay’s direct supervisor at work, and taught him the secrets of the land. Even after his retirement at age 70, he continued to work shifts on the tractor, to calibrate tools, and to remain updated on what was happening in the fields and on the land.

From the time they met, Zehava and Ze’ev did everything together. Ze’ev went along with the follies of Zehava. She didn’t drive, and he drove her everywhere, and would wait for her at each place. “Thanks to this”, he would say, “I got to know new places”. On her birthday, he would always buy her a new piece of jewelry, and would write a meaningful letter. The respect between them remained always, even though now and again a quarrel would occur. They always knew how to accommodate each other. Ze’ev always complimented her. They hugged and kissed each time they met and parted, and passed this onto their children, who are also accustomed to hugging and kissing when meeting and parting.

Zehava mothered like a lioness, with warmth and a watchful eye, pushing her cubs to independence. Ze’ev taught his children to respect every person, and instilled in them the principle “everyone is a human being, until proven otherwise”. They knew how to give quality time to each child separately. Both cared for their children, but whenever they called to inquire about their wellbeing, each spoke for the other: “Your father is worried” or “Your mother is concerned”…

They were wonderful grandparents to 11 grandchildren. Zehava was devoted to them and very involved in their lives. Ze’ev told his grandkids, any help you need, just ask. He always took them and fetched them from every place, and every time a class at school was cancelled, they called him immediately.

Ze’ev and Zehava loved to hike and travel in Israel. When Ze’ev retired, he bought a jeep to travel with his kids and grandkids. It did not matter to where, the main thing was to travel and to enjoy nature. When his children were small, Ze’ev didn’t agree to go on a family holiday sleeping in a tent, because he said he had enough tents during his annual reserve duty. Only after he retired, and out of respect for his grandchildren, did he agree to sleep with them in a tent. They even bought him a tent as a present for a birthday.

Zehava and Ze’ev were both bibliophiles. They both read a lot a lot and studied a lot. Zehava loved the song, Matanot Ktanot (“Small gifts”) by Rami Kleinstein and Ze’ev loved Yeled Shel Abba (“Daddy’s Boy”) by Mookie.

On the eve of Simchat Torah, Ze’ev and Zehava spent time with their sons, Hagai and Dvir, and their families, and parted as usual with a hug and kiss. The following morning, Saturday, October 7, the Kibbutz woke to the sound of fire. As soon as it became apparent that terrorists had infiltrated Be’eri, Zehava asked everyone on the family WhatsApp group to give a sign of life. At a certain point, Zehava wrote that there were terrorists outside their home and at 13:50, they entered. Ze’ev and Zehava had locked themselves within their safe room. Dvir and Hagai's families were rescued during the night, but contact was lost with Zehava and Ze’ev. Apparently, the terrorists took them as hostages to another house in the neighbourhood, where there was a shoutout with Yamam, the Police National Counter Terror Unit. Their fate was unknown for 11 days, until the family received notification of their passing.

Zehava and Ze’ev Heker were honest, ethical, hard-working people, people of virtue. They loved their family, their children, and their grandchildren, and were very devoted to them. They loved, respected, and admired each other, every day and every hour, until the last moment.

The poet Zelda wrote:

I am connected by thread

To you

Our beloved festivals

And wonderful periods of the year

With a treasure of fragrances, flowers

Fruit, leaves, and spirits

With the mist and rain

The sudden snow

And dew

Hanging by a longing thread

You and me and the sabbath

You and me we lived

In a previous life

You and me

And the lie

And the fear

And the torn

You and me

And the Creator of the Heavens does not have

Seashore

You and me

And the riddle

You and me

And death

May their good memory be a blessing.