Educator killed in Gaza married off one daughter, preparing for another’s wedding

Senior Staff Sergeant Major (res.) Elon Waiss, 49, from Psagot, a soldier in the 129th Battalion, fell in combat in the northern Gaza Strip.

Waiss’s brother, Assaf, told Kan Reshet Bet, “My father said that he talked to him [Elon] and told him, ‘You have children; you have your daughter’s wedding,’ and he said to my father, ‘Father, you brought us up like this, that the people of Israel are above all. I am here on a mission. I will return and marry her off.’”

He leaves behind seven children and one grandchild.

'One of the pillars of the community,' local council says 

Waiss was “a man of education and one of the pillars of the community,” the Binyamin Regional Council stated.

He taught 10th grade at the Amit high school in Ma’aleh Adumim, where he was considered a central figure in the institution. Principal Daniel Be’eri said that “education was at the center of Waiss’s life; he saw it as his mission to strengthen every student. He loved them dearly. We will carry his image with us forever.”

Elon “taught us a lesson in what leadership really is, what it means to have courage and bravery. I am his student, as the rest of the nation should be,” Assaf told the Ynet news site.

IDF Lt.-Col. Ariel Ben Baruch, who commanded Waiss, said, “Elon, my brother and friend, my soldier, a soldier of Am Yisrael [the nation of Israel], I am standing here with your family and your friends, many of whom continue to fight in Gaza in these very moments. They are fighting for our lives and our very existence.

“I had the privilege of joining your unit, of which you were the heart and soul, the type of person who could coalesce all orders given and prioritize them in an order of justice as nobody else could. You were a symbol to all, a man of education in all areas of life. You operated with patience.”

He continued, “Elon, you loved life so much. Look at your students; look at your family. Only three weeks ago, you married off your daughter Rachel, and your next task was to marry off Hodaya.” The wedding was set to take place in about a month.

“You stand as a pillar of what life is all about and what we must continue fighting for. In 30 years of service, you gave every minute its own special significance. Our enemies seek to destroy us, and you, Elon, nearly 50, rose up to defend us with humility, to win against the enemy and not return until it is defeated. In your death, you commanded us – the soldiers – to fight this enemy off until it is no longer. Thank you for everything you gave, for your bravery. I salute you on your last path. Rest in peace.”