Making beers in memory of those killed on October 7

Beers continue to be brewed in memory of civilians and soldiers killed on Oct. 7 and in the ensuing war.

Beer has become the designated vehicle of remembrance because so many of the fallen were beer lovers and because beer represents the youth culture they were part of.

There are also the associations made when we raise a glass and pronounce “l’chaim!” (“to life”) and “to memories.”

A few months ago, Kfir Maman, a senior lecturer in the Department of Visual Communications Shenkar College of Engineering in Tel Aviv, gave his students a seemingly simple assignment: Choose one of the fallen, and design a beer label and accompanying paraphernalia in his or her memory.

Capturing someone’s essence and life story in a symbol created with graphics, text, and shapes proved anything but easy. The students carried out their research using social media, refraining from approaching the families themselves. “To do so would have provided too subjective a picture,” explains Maman.

After a long time spent in research, each student used his or her creative talents to make a beer label memorializing the chosen person. When the final results were shown to the families, they reacted with great emotion and appreciation.

THE MAGAZINE spoke to three of the students about how they were able to translate a personality into a beer.

The label for a beer called Russo was named after Ofek Russo, with whom first-year student Itay Elimelech had completed the Navy medics’ course. “Ofek was killed on October 8, fighting in one of the Gaza border communities,” the Elimelech relates.

“He was a medic in Shayetet 13, the reconnaissance and commando unit of the Israeli Navy.”

The design used on the label, coasters, glasses, and packaging incorporates the symbol of Russo’s IDF Navy unit with motifs from the sea. It’s in black-and-white because black is the color of Shayetet 13. Elimelech also likes to work in black-and-white.  But the most dominant image is a guitar.

“The best-known photo of Ofek shows him holding a guitar,” says Elimelech. “That’s how many people remember him. I also incorporated his favorite saying: ‘Everything or everything.’  That’s the kind of person he was. All in; nothing halfway.”

ROTEM MORYOSEF met Amir Fisher when their families were living in Bucharest. Years later, Moryosef was back in Israel, and Fisher returned as a lone soldier. He joined Duvdevan, Unit 217, and was serving for an additional year when he was killed defending Kfar Aza, on Oct. 7.

“When I saw that Amir was one of the fallen who could be a subject for our project, I chose him, of course,” explains Moryosef. “His nickname in the army was ‘Fish,’ and this is what I named the beer. I chose red because it symbolizes duvdevan [cherry] and is a bold color – just like Amir was.”

The main visual element is a four-piece jigsaw puzzle tattoo Fisher had on his chest, each piece bearing a letter of the name of a family member. Before Oct. 7, Fisher had been considering adding a fifth piece to the tattoo, with the number “40,” the number of his squad.

“After the fighting was over,” continues Moryosef, “Amir’s unit brought his family to Kfar Aza in order to effect some kind of closure. They found something amazing: A bag with five puzzle pieces, which they felt was a sign from Amir.”

Yanai Kaminka

YANAI KAMINKA was an officer in the Home Front Command when he was killed defending the Zikim base after the Hamas attack on Oct. 7. Shenkar student Yuval Cohen was his neighbor in Tzur Hadassah, southwest of Jerusalem. She chose Kaminka as the subject of her project.

“Yanai’s father is a poet,” she explains, “and Yanai loved one of his lines: ‘Only at night can you see the stars.’ So I chose that as my theme.”

The design is the image of a man sitting on a crescent moon against a starry sky with one star in front of him, accompanied by the line from the poem. Cohen continues: “On the back label, I drew a sketch of Yanai with the line in his own handwriting and the words ‘For stars only.’

“Because Yanai loved black coffee, I also labeled the beer ‘The Taste of Quality Coffee.’  I did this initially as a joke, to show a touch of humor in Yanai’s personality. It was only later that I discovered that coffee-flavored beer really exists.”

No beers were actually brewed as part of the project.

However, after the presentations, home brewer Gadi Shoshan from Moshav Beit Halevi brewed one of his beers for bottles designed by Shenkar student Tal Givon for Erez Mishlovsky, killed while fighting in Gaza. Shoshan is a friend of Mishlovsky’s father, who was gifted all the bottles for the family’s personal use to memorialize their fallen son.

The students’ end-of-year projects were exhibited at Shenkar and other venues. In Jerusalem, the bottles were on display at the Noctorno coffee shop and restaurant on Bezalel Street.

Maman also designed and curated the exhibition. “Exposing this work to the general public was an important and essential step in the process of commemoration and collective memory,” he concludes. “Viewing the students’ creations strengthens our personal and community connection to the tragedy and creates opportunities for actual healing.” 

The writer is owner of MediawiSe, a Jerusalem advertising and direct marketing agency. He writes a weblog on Israeli craft beers called Israel Brews and Views, which can be found on Facebook. Special thanks to Kfir Maman for his help in preparing this article.