Yeheskel Shoshani, Israeli-American elephant researcher, dead in Ethiopian explosion, May 20, 2008

Israeli elephant researcher Yeheskel Shoshani was among those killed in a possible terror attack on a minibus in downtown Addis Ababa on Tuesday, Israeli media reported.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said it is unclear whether the explosion was terror-related and if Shoshani was aboard the minibus when it exploded.

Three people were killed and nine others were injured in the explosion, which occurred as the minibus was traveling on the road that runs between the Hilton Hotel and the Ethiopian Foreign Ministry, an Israeli website reported.

In a recent interview, Shoshani told of finding the corpse of a large elephant that had been shot by hunters. ” It was a large male, and the poachers wanted its ivory, so they sawed off its head,” he told Haaretz. “When I saw that, I thought about the last moments in the life of this elephant. Elephants have language – they talk to one another with sounds that we can’t hear. I asked myself what sound he made a moment before he died.” 

Ahikam Amichai, 20, David Rubin, 21, Israel, off-duty soldiers, murdered on hike, Dec. 28

Ahikam Amichai (L), David Rubin

Ahikam Amichai, 20, and David Rubin, 21, off-duty Israeli Army commandos on a recreational hike near their homes in the Hebron hills, were murdered by Palestinians, Dec. 28, 2007.

The two lifelong friends and neighbors were each members of elite and storied Israeli commando units. Amihai was a member of the Air Force’s Shaldag unit, and Rubin was a member of Shayetet 13, the Israeli Navy Seals (video). Read the rest of their dramatic stories after the jump.

Richard H. Friedman, 56, U.S., lawyer, drowning, Dec. 30

Richard H. Friedman, 56, an attorney active in the Jewish community of Albany, N.Y., died in a swimming accident while on vacation with his family in Puerto Rico, Dec. 30, 2007.

Friedman was a member of the board of Albany’s Temple Israel, a Conservative synagogue, president of its Men’s Club, and former president of Albany’s Jewish day school, Bet Shraga Hebrew Academy.

(In My Heart Editor’s Note: I once lived in Albany, and knew Friedman by sight, as well as all the individuals quoted in this story. My condolences to his family, friends and the extended Albany, New York, Jewish community, a tight-knit group. I invite anyone from Albany who knew Friedman to write a comment to this article or to send us an email, which we will post in Friedman’s honor.)

Adiel Shmuel, 12, Israel, car accident, Dec. 12

Adiel Shmuel, 12, of Beersheva in Israel’s northern Negev desert, died Dec. 12, 2007, of injuries from a horrific car accident that hurt six from his family and eight overall.Shmuel’s death was the 403rd of the year from car accidents in Israel.

Remembering Saadia Marciano, Israeli ‘Black Panthers’ leader

By Sami Shalom Chetrit

Sa’adia Marziano says today: “We called to raise the social banner, especially when the security situation is difficult. There was a man named Moshe Dayan, his memory be blessed, who said at the time that it’s forbidden to raise both banners (security and social) at the same time, and that was a strong edict in those days. But we embarked on a struggle and said both banners must always be raised, because a weak society, socially and culturally degenerate, suffering from harsh poverty, will never be militarily strong either.”

Saadia Marciano, 58, Israel, Morocco, ‘Black Panther’ leader, Dec. 21

Saadia Marciano, 58, a former member of the Israeli Knesset who got his start in public life as a leader of the radical “Black Panthers” movement of poor Sephardic Jews, died Dec. 21, 2007, in a Jerusalem hospital.

Marciano, who left his native Oujda, Morocco, after pogroms and riots there in the wake of Israel’s founding in 1948, helped start the Israeli Black Panthers in his early 20s,

Shulamit Lack, 83, U.S., WWII resistance fighter, Dec. 3

Shulamit Lack, 83, who risked her life to help other Jews escape Nazi-occupied Hungary as a teenager, survived two concentration camps, fought in the Israeli army and then forged a new life in America, died Monday, Dec. 3, 2007.

“Shula went through incredible trials in her life and came through it without being bitter,” said filmmaker Martha Lubell, who told Lack’s story in a 2000 documentary, “Daring to Resist: Three Women Face the Holocaust,” told Newsday.

Herzl’s grandson reburied in Jerusalem with family

Stephen Norman, Zionist pioneer Theodor Herzl’s only grandson, was reburied in the family crypt on Mt. Herzl in Jerusalem, Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2007, bringing to fulfillment one of Herzl’s dreams.

Norman initially sought a life free of Zionism and anti-Semitism, but apparently had his Jewish roots reawakened at the onset of World War Two during Hitler’s annexation of Austria, where his parents lived.

Maayan Rotenberg, 18, Israel, soldier, accident, Nov. 30

Maayan Rotenberg, 18, an Israeli soldier wounded last week in a training accident, died Friday, Nov. 30, 2007, but he will continue to help people in death, as he did in life, as an organ donor.

With his and his family’s consent, his liver, heart, and lungs were immediately donated to ailing people in Israel. His kidney was flown to Germany, where it was transplanted into a critically ill person. His corneas likely will be used this week. The Israel Defense Forces encourages organ donations according to this article on the IDF website.

Rotenberg, the first Israeli-born child of American immigrants, lived on Kibbutz Beit Haemek in the Western Galilee, where he will be buried.