Eden Zechariah and Ziv Dado were abducted to Gaza on the tragic date of October 7. Zechariah (28) was kidnapped while trying to flee a Nova party, while Dado (36) a staff sergeant who served as a logistics work manager in the 51st Battalion of the Golani Brigade and a married father of an infant, was killed in a clash with Hamas terrorists on October 7. His body was abducted, and he was declared a captive soldier held by Hamas.
About two months after Zechariah and Dado were abducted, soldiers from the 699th Battalion of the "Fire Arrows" Reserve Commando Brigade set out to retrieve their bodies from the Jabaliya area based on intelligence information. On the way, a roadside bomb was detonated. The explosion killed two reserve soldiers – close friends from their training course – Eyal Meir Berkowitz (28) from Jerusalem and Gal Meir Eisenkot (25) from Herzliya, the son of former IDF Chief of Staff and Minister Gadi Eisenkot. Several other fighters were injured in this operation, but ultimately, the bodies of Zechariah and Dado were retrieved from Gaza and brought to Israel for burial.
Eyal Berkowitz grew up in Susya in the West Bank. He attended high school at the Bnei Akiva Yeshiva High School and, after graduating, moved to the Bnei David Hesder Yeshiva in Eli. During his studies in Eli, he joined a group studying the Mishnah. For years, he wrote brief notes on almost every Mishnah passage. Sometimes, he even added illustrations and humor.
Dr. Chaim Meir Neria, the curator of the Judaica collection at the National Library of Israel, said: "Eyal managed, in a few words and modern language, sometimes even humorous, to shed light on the words of the Mishnah. It is evident that his notes display depth, talent, and thought."
After three years at the Eli Yeshiva, Berkowitz enlisted in the IDF in 2016, initially serving in the General Staff Reconnaissance Unit and later transferring to the Maglan Commando Unit. In 2022, he got married and settled in Jerusalem, where he began medical studies at the Hebrew University, completing only his first year before his untimely death. On October 7, they were at his parents' home in Susya. When the magnitude of the terror attack became known, Berkowitz was called up for reserve duty, and after the ground operation began, he found himself fighting in Gaza. Berkowitz fell just hours before the first Hanukkah candle was lit, on Kislev 24, 5784, or December 7, 2023.
After Berkowitz's death, his family approached the National Library of Israel with an offer to donate his book of Mishnah with his handwritten notes, and the library agreed to scan the volume and add it to their catalog. The scanned book shows that his notes were brief but he managed to concisely explain the Mishnah's intent in places where it is not explicit. At a ceremony held at the National Library of Israel on Friday, attended by his family members and many friends, his father, Shemaiah Berkowitz, said: "The family is excited to hand over the book to the library's manuscript collection and be part of the chain of generations of the Jewish people."
