After Adir Mesika Was Murdered by Hamas

On October 6th, Alon Mesika and his family enjoyed a beautiful outdoor Friday night dinner. Alon and his wife Sheerie enjoyed having all of their children together for Shabbat dinner. They said Kiddush over wine, laughed, and ate a delicious festive meal as they watched the sun cast its last rays over the horizon. They had no idea it would be their last dinner all together.

After dinner, friends of their son, Adir, picked him up to head out to the Nova festival. His girlfriend Yuli and other friends Selah, Matan, and Ilay brought tents and mattresses, and they began loading the car.

Adir Mesika, of blessed memory

Sheerie stopped Adir and said, “Hey! Where are you going without giving me a kiss?” Alon said in an Aish.com interview, “That was the last kiss for her and Adir and his friends left for the party.”

At daybreak, Hamas terrorists unleashed their murderous rampage. Adir was killed at the Nova festival. Alon reflected. “The crazy thing is that I always leave my phone on the charger in my bedroom. But that night was different. I randomly left my phone downstairs.” Choking up, Alon explained, “He called me twice and I missed the calls. I only saw them after.”

At 6 AM their second son, Leran (21), a soldier, left with his girlfriend for a trip up North. One hour later, Adir was hiding in the shelters near the festival. At 7:01 Adir sent a text message to the family group on Whatsapp:

“I am next to Re’im in a shelter. Everything is ok.”

A few minutes later Leran called Sheerie. “Mom! Wake up dad! They are shooting at Adir.”

Alon jumped from the bed and asked “What’s going on?!” Leran did not have much information to share as he was only getting sporadic texts from Adir.

At 7:21am Adir wrote on the family chat, “I love you all so much.”

“That was his last message to the family chat,” Alon said.

The Meskika Family, Adir is in the middle standing next to his father Alon

A few minutes later Leran shared a text that he received from Adir: “Selah is dead, Matan is dead, I don't think I will be able to get out of here. I love you.”

Leran encouraged him to hide but Adir would not hear of it.

“Adir was a fighter,” Alon explained. “He wasn’t going to wait for a terrorist to get into the shelter and start shooting.” As soon as they saw the leg of the terrorist coming into the shelter, Adir and Ilay pushed him out and began fighting with their bare hands against the terrorist who had guns and grenades. Their act of bravery saved his girlfriend Yuli and two other girls in the shelter. Although Adir thought Selah had died from the four bullets that penetrated his chest, Selah survived.

On Tuesday evening, the Israeli army came to the house to officially inform the Mesika family of their son's death. “At the time, there were about 100-300 people at our house visiting. I was outside talking to someone and suddenly there was total silence in my home. I understood. There were three people that came together. I asked them, ‘That’s it?’ When she said ‘yes.’ I just said ‘ok.’ I gave them a hug.”

Yuli and her friends were rescued by the Israeli army.

Alon says of Yuli, “She is a super special girl. She’s like a daughter to us. In the beginning, after Adir’s death she was at our house 24/7. She slept in Adir’s room. Now, she went back to the army. Even though she is 22 and doesn't have to, she went back to serve. We don't see her as much now, but she knows whenever she needs us, we are here for her.”

Alon found a method of dealing with his pain from the most unusual source. “It all started on Oct 28th. I am a second generation jeweler and have been in the diamond exchange since 1991.”

Alon was sitting in his office with Or, his third son. One of Adir’s friends texted a video of a wedding taking place on the army base.

“I was watching the video and I was like wow! Look at Meir, the groom; he’s so happy!

Dor Zimel gets his engagement ring

I said, ‘I want to give a soldier an engagement ring with a beautiful diamond. The first soldier that has vacation and wants to get engaged, I’ll give him the ring. I want them to go build a home together in Israel.’”

Or looked at him and said, “Are you nuts? Abba, it's a lot of money!”

Alon responded, “‘I don’t care. It's going to make me feel good.” He logged on to Facebook and posted his offer.

Six minutes after posting, someone called and said, “I know a soldier. He is on his way home, and his mother is on the way to buy a ring.”

Alon said, “Tell the woman to stop. Tell them to call me and I’ll give them a ring.”

Maj. (Res.) Dor Zimel, 27, came over at 5 PM that same day. Alon gave him a beautiful ring and the soldier proposed by the ocean.

Alon reminisced, “Afterward, they came over with their family to our place. We made a L'chaim. We gave hugs to the soldier and his fiancée… and that's it. That was the first one.”

The next day, another soldier called to ask for a ring. Alon said, “I’m so sorry but I gave it away already to a different soldier.”

The soldier pleaded, “Please, what am I going to do?”

Alon took pity and decided, “You know what? Come over! I’ll give you a ring as well.”

Alon gave him a ring and has not stopped giving rings since. He recently donated his 84th ring!

“This past Friday, the couple had their engagement and wedding on the same day! I gave the ring and right away they went to the chuppah to get married. You should have seen the soldier. He was such a strong guy. He was in uniform with his rifle under the chuppah. He was shaking uncontrollably. I told him, ‘Listen, you went into Gaza and you fought like crazy! I'm sure you didn't shake the way you shook under the chuppah!’

He said, ‘You know what! You are right!’”

For Alon, the best part is getting a hug from each soldier. “When I get a hug from the soldier, it’s like getting a hug from Adir…That’s my project. We call it Adir’s Diamonds.”

“Everyone has to have faith. If you do not have faith, you will be miserable. My faith is giving. By giving I am keeping Adir alive. People are talking about him and I hear his name. By doing this project, he is always with us. Because of Adir there will be a lot of children and grandchildren. We are building a lot of homes in Israel.”

Most of the rings are a half a carat diamond set in 14 karat gold settings. Alon’s friends from the diamond exchange in New York and Los Angeles heard about what he was doing and offered to help. They send parcels with diamonds, but Alon sets the stones himself.

“I am doing all the setting and work by myself. I sit next to my bench. I start working on the ring. Then I hear some music and I get emotional and I start crying. There are a lot of rings that have tears on them. A lot of them.”

Alon recently found out that Dor Zimel, the first solider he gave a ring to, received life-threatening wounds in an rocket and drone attack in northern Israel. He died five days later. Although was terribly saddened by the news, and said, “We will continue with full power to build homes in Israel.”

Dor Zemel, of blessed memory

Adir’s Diamonds is not the only project their family started in memory of Adir.

When Adir finished the army, he went for vacation to Peru. This trip inspired him to make a beautiful bracelet.

He started a line and named it FLOW Jewels, inspired by the ocean and his love of surfing. Adir built the brand and did everything from scratch.

“He built the website and the logo by himself. He got two orders and made a contract with a shipping company. He shipped the first one out. Then, he went to the Nova party and never came back.”

His brother Or decided to take over FLOW jewels and the family is keeping the line alive.

They are also in the midst of creating an therapeutic organization called AIM, representing the three friends who lost their lives: Adir, Ilay and Matan.

Sheerie, Adir and his brother

“We try to think about good things,” Alon said, “even though it's really difficult.”

Every Friday they visit the grave. They dance, sing, and reflect.

Alon believes the best tool of resilience, besides giving, is to speak about the deceased. “Speak about it. Talk about it. Do not keep it in your chest. Spit it out. Talk about your son, your daughter, whoever you lost. It's good for you. And you know what? Most people like to hear. Some people came to me and said, ‘I was trying to come and give you a hug and keep you strong. But you kept me strong. Because of you, I am stronger.’”

Alon continued, “I'm talking to people and I start crying - so what? So I’m crying. I never cried before. I never cried in public with anyone else. So now I cry and it helps.”

Even though giving helps, Alon admits he will never be fully healed. “It's like my heart has been broken in half. I do not sleep much but when I sleep I’m totally out. I haven't dreamed of Adir yet but my wife has. And Yuli has.”

Sheerie dreamt that she was dancing with Adir.

“She was touching his beard and kissing him and he was saying, “It’s happening mom, it's really happening. Yuli dreamt that I was dancing with Adir and she was recording it on her phone. Of course, there was no real recording on her phone. I can only hug, kiss him and dance with him in my mind. These dreams remind us he is always with us. We must continue living. Through Adir’s Diamonds he will live on.”