(live here) – On Memorial Day, Wednesday, April 30, 4, the quiet streets of Haifa's Neve Sha'anan neighborhood will be filled with a slow but meaningful run. This is the second year that neighborhood resident Tamir Fedida has initiated and led "Runners and Rememberers" – a unique community race with one goal: to embrace the bereaved families, remember the fallen, and convey the appreciation and love of the entire community.
The race starts from the Boys' Park and passes through five stations throughout the neighborhood, with a family of a war veteran waiting at each station - a member of the neighborhood who fell in the Israeli wars. This year, the families of: Achia Daskal, Eliyahu Meir Ohana, Benny Weiss, Zvika Kaplan, and Amit Hayut, will take part in the event.
At each stop, the family will share with the runners the story of their loved one's life – not just the moments of heroism or loss, but the person they were: the hobbies, the dreams, the messages they left behind, and the memories that continue to accompany their loved ones today. Participants, children and adults alike, will stop, listen, hug, give flowers, and move on, to the next stop, to the next memory.
Tamir tells Live: Our race is not a race of time or competition, it is a race of hugs. Of connection. Of togetherness. You can run, walk, ride a bike or scooter – the main thing is to be there. To show the families that we remember, appreciate, cherish.
Alongside the emotional stations, participants will also enjoy a warm community atmosphere. Flags, pictures of the fallen and small products for children will be placed at the opening. This year, for the first time, special T-shirts will also be distributed to participants. At the end of the race, a short ceremony will be held, including light refreshments and the singing of "Hatikva" - and then everyone will continue on to the Independence Day celebrations, with a deeper sense of mutual responsibility.
For Tamir, it's much more than a community event. "These families have lost the most precious thing to them. We have no way to bring back the son, the brother, the father. But we have a way to gather them to our hearts, to show them that we remember, that we are with them. This is perhaps the least that I as an individual, and we as a community, can do. And if we managed – even for a moment – to give them a feeling of embrace, love and appreciation, then we have done our part."
Residents' initiatives are important
And even more so in Haifa because of the municipality and what it doesn't do..
I saw Vadim Blich's picture, but the name doesn't appear on the list.
I am the mother of Vadim Blich and I want to say: On 7/10/23, my son as a commander and seven other fighters who were not the first to fall in Bari.
The name that was not added by hand to the bricks in Haifa is also inscribed on a monument in the estate.
So if you don't have complete information, there's no need to rush to publish.
Tamir Fadida, a righteous man from a family of righteous men, a man of strength, there is no one like you.
I really hope there were flags in the race if the faces fall.
May they rest in peace and may their memory be eternal. My heart goes out to the families in their grief.