Two Weeks of Growth, Blossoming, and Love in Shay’s Light

Two weeks.

Two especially intense weeks.
The week of Tu Bishvat, the holiday of planting and growth, followed by Valentine’s week, a week of love.

How symbolic that these two weeks came together in our lives.

It began almost on Tu Bishvat itself, at an honors ceremony at Na’amat High School, where students received their midyear report cards.

In the midst of pride and achievement, we planted a tree in the school garden in Shay’s memory. A young mulberry tree in the soil, small in size but immense in meaning. Growth מתוך pain. Continuity. A daily reminder that excellence and values go hand in hand, and that even something small planted with love can grow and bear fruit.

And Motaleh Spiegler, one of the greatest Israeli footballers of all time, in my eyes the greatest of them all, honored us and Shay with his presence.

In front of the students, Orli spoke in Shay’s name. In the name of the love we have for him. In the name of the deep longing we carry. She spoke about his values, about his way of living, about the choice to truly see the other.

Her words were not only remembrance. They were a request. They were a mission.

The following day, the chess tournament took place at the high school.

A board, pieces, silence, thinking ahead. Focus, perseverance, respect. So very Shay. There too, Orli connected the moves on the board to the moves we make in life, reminding everyone that true excellence is not only about winning, but also about humanity.

During the tournament, we also launched “Shay Ranking,” an AI based system designed to honor values excellence. This time, the highlighted value was “Respect and Derech Eretz.”

You are invited to read more about it on the event summary page on the ShaySport website.

That same day, although we could not be there in person due to our intense schedule, his battalion, classified Battalion 5114, planted a tree in his memory in the “Swords of Iron” Forest established near the Gaza border.

Again, a tree. Again, the earth. Again, roots reaching deep into the soil.

That knowledge connected worlds and reminded us that his light touches ever wider circles, meaningful and deeply moving.

Then came the following week.
A week of love. A week in which the land was painted in breathtaking blooms of anemones, in red and also white and purple, delicate cyclamens, and fresh winter green. We went out to the trails, to Hurvat Sherisha, to the Sargel Anemone Forest at the Megiddo airstrip, to Pura Nature Reserve, and to Beit Guvrin. In each of these places, the heart expands. The longing is there, and it always will be. But there is also breathtaking beauty. There is life. There is renewal. And there is the knowing that for us to have moments like these, Shay fell.

And amid all the activity and nature, there was one very special moment.
We inaugurated “Shay’s Library” at Be’eri Elementary School, where Shay studied as a child, quietly yet with great pride. To return there, to the hallways of his childhood, to curiosity, to books, was deeply moving. A library is a place of imagination, of knowledge, of quiet, of inner growth. To know that children will walk in, open a book, and encounter Shay’s name through words, through thought, through dreams, through his story hanging on the wall, is a living, breathing continuation.

At the end of the week, in front of a full hall at Idan Haviv’s concert, a spontaneous and deeply moving moment unfolded.

Orli spoke again. She spoke in Shay’s name. In the name of the love we hold for him. In the name of the longing that never leaves. And within the music and the open hearts around her, she brought his values to the forefront.

And the audience listened. Truly listened.

Two more weeks in which the light of Shay, a hero of Israel, continued to spread.

Through a young mulberry tree.
Through a chessboard.
Through a library in an elementary school.
Through blooming trails.
And through a brave heart that continues to speak in his name.

We continue to plant.
We continue to walk forward.
We continue to choose growth.
We continue to choose love.
And we continue to spread Shay’s light.

הפוסט נכתב על-ידי יורם מיכאלי, אבא של סמל שי מיכאלי ז”ל.