The Talmud explains that Adam, the first man, was created alone in order to teach humans that each person is an entire world in themselves, that killing one person is the equivalent of killing an entire world. The Talmud says that all humans descended from Adam, thus showing that all humans are capable of creating generations and legacies for all of eternity.
On January 16, 2024, a life, an entire world, was taken.
“He was her first boyfriend,” my father used to say, pointing at photos of my older sister, Zahava, and her “boyfriend” Zachary. Our families met in an apartment building filled with young couples. They went on trips and spent a holiday together.
When Zahava found out Zechariah had been killed, she wrote, “this war just keeps getting worse… Zachary Haber…your name is a part of my childhood. They say you were my first boyfriend because we used to play together when we were toddlers. The story goes that our parents left us with a babysitter once and we made such a mess of the house that they thought the place had been robbed.”
As the eldest of four boys, Zachary was clearly a natural-born leader.
After his family immigrated to Israel at the age of eight, Zachary became known as “Zechariah.”
He completed high school and continued to study in a rigorous Torah study program at Yeshiva Har Etzion in Alon Shvut. He later wrote a thorough Talmudic encyclopedia that was just published by the yeshiva.
Following his time studying in Yeshiva, he joined the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), serving in the Tanks Corps.
Talia, Zechariah’s wife and mother of their three children, explained that with Zechariah’s linguistics skills and incredible mind, he could have served in the IDF’s intelligence unit. However, Talia recalled Zachariah’s reasoning,“If everyone who is bright goes into the IDF intelligence units, who will go into the combat units?”
As I read about the world Zechariah beautifully built, it was clear that this was the way he lived his life: humbly serving and bettering his communities.
Continuing on his impressive path, after his service in the IDF, Zechariah finished two degrees in plant science at the Faculty of Agriculture of the Hebrew University in Rehovot.
After becoming a biologist, Zechariah, clearly brilliant, continued his schooling to earn a PhD at Dr. Nir Sade’s laboratory at the university’s Institute for Cereal Crops Research. There, Zechariah worked on his thesis titled, Systems Biology Approach for Stress Resistance and Yield Traits in Crops. This thesis, concerning improving the productivity of crops in harsh climate conditions, was a topic that, as Sade stressed, “is a priority for plant researchers worldwide.”
Zechariah expressed his future plans in an interview with The Journal of American Society of Plant Biologists in 2021. “In the future,” Zechariya explained, “I would like to explore desert and marine plants, as potential future crops, allowing us to combat intensifying desertification, biodiversity loss and water scarcity.”
It pains me to think of the dreams Zechariah had, the ones he would never get to embark on. Before the Age of 32, Zechariya published 6 extensive research papers in his field. Sade explained the importance of Zechariah’s work, “[Zechariah] used computational biology, genetic engineering and a variety of measurements…His important findings were published in first-class journals and have already greatly influenced the field.”
At his young age, Zechariah had accomplished what many only dream of doing by the age of 60.
On the Shavuot after October 7, 2023, my parents printed some of Zechariya’s extensive Talmudic Encyclopedia. I could never explain his work, I couldn’t do it justice, but it was beautiful, complex, and undeniably brilliant.
Zechariah even compiled verses to create “piyutim,” Hebrew songs based on Biblical verses, for people to sing on Shavuot.
Many people wish to be extremely skilled in one topic. Zechariah, young with potential for even more growth, was undeniably an expert in some of the most complex topics to exist.
Posthumously, Zechariah was awarded his PhD. Surrounded by a standing ovation, his widow, Talia, and his parents, Miriam and Aharon Haber, accepted the diploma on his behalf.
Zechariah, leaving three children behind, had a whole life ahead of him. Tragically, there are too many stories like Zechariah’s. It is hard to give space and honor to all those who perished. But, as written in the Talmud, every person who perished, is a world that no longer exists, so we must try to honor every single life taken.
My brother, who served in the IDF, once relayed to me the experience of soldiers on Yom Hazikaron, Israel’s Remembrance Day. Every soldier, my brother explained, stood next to a fallen soldier’s grave, so that every grave was visited and honored on that day.
No soldier, even in death, should stand alone.
Similarly, there is a Jewish tradition to light a candle to honor someone who lost their life. But, it is important to remember that souls like Zechariah’s were not “lost,” they were taken.
In the book of Mishleih, the verse compares man to God’s lamp. When a person is killed, the light of God is extinguished.
Lighting a candle in Zechariah’s honor is a way to remember and give honor to the beautiful life he lived, so that his light can live on. We must actively keep Zechariah’s memory alive, tell his story, and share his brilliant work to remember the beautiful world Zechariah was only just beginning to build.
Please light a candle to remember the light and remarkable world that was stolen, and visit the website linked that contains much of Zechariah’s incredible work.
https://www.zechariahhaber.com/bio
