Israeli hero Elchanan Kalmanson and his team of rescuers: A Memorial Day story of sacrifice

When remembering the harder aspects of Jewish history, Israeli memorials often give emphasis to honoring those who defied the odds and courageously fought on behalf of others. In other words, heroes.

One such hero is Elchanan Kalmanson, a father of five who gave his life saving many others on Oct. 7, 2023. 

Being head of security of his town and having served in the Mossad, Kalmanson (42) got wind of the terrible news about the Hamas invasion earlier than most. “It doesn’t look good,” he said to his family, telling them, “and I need to go and help.” He wasn’t alone. Hundreds of Israelis, professionals and ordinary people, felt the same way as the word gradually spread and they headed south.

Kalmanson and his family lived in Otniel, a religious settlement in the Judean hills, but despite the night-and-day difference in outlook to the extremely secular community of Be’eri, Kalmanson jumped in a car with his brother and nephew to go and help the embattled kibbutz. They drove 100 kilometers (62 miles) to the border of Gaza as thousands of rockets were flying overhead, not knowing what they would find. 

Of all the possibilities they might have prepared themselves for, they couldn’t have imagined the horrific scene as they arrived. The largest kibbutz in the Gaza envelope was under attack by hundreds of terrorists who were systematically exterminating, torturing, and destroying everyone and everything in their path. They found themselves surrounded by thick smoke and explosions, gunshots and screams – a stark contrast to the usual peaceful paradise of the Be’eri community.

In an interview with Makor Rishon, Kalmanson’s father Rabbi Beni Kalmanson explained, “Elchanan had trained extensively in anti-terror security operations.” He added, “When he arrived, the army had many special forces in Be’eri, but the terrorists had already overtaken tens of homes. The only way to help people was to go house to house, without knowing what you were going to find in each one.

HaMizrachi news tells the story of how they experienced “every possible scenario”. In some cases they were able to save entire families, in others there was no one left alive to save. They came across children who had watched as their parents were murdered or kidnapped, and often had to fight and kill terrorists to get into the houses to rescue people. 

They were able to help some families escape from their safe rooms as their houses had been set on fire, and in several cases struggled to persuade the terrified people inside that they really were Israeli. “We are here to save you, open the door!” They would call, sometimes singing Simchat Torah songs to prove they were Jewish. Kalmanson had most success in persuading them it was safe to open the door when he recited the Shema: “The families would open the door, hug him, and he would drive them to safety,” according to HaMizrachi.

Kalmanson and his crew, dubbed “Tzevet Elchanan” (Team Elchanan) took an armored truck and went door to door to rescue as many as possible, fitting ten or twelve people in the truck at a time, when it was designed to carry only four. They continued the grueling work for 14 hours, ferrying many people to safety. “Each time, we would say how much we don’t want to go back in,” recalled Kalmanson’s nephew, Itiel. “But we knew what we had to do.” 

It was when the team entered a dark house that a terrorist began firing, shooting both Kalmanson and his brother. Kalmanson died there, in his brother’s arms, after saving over 100 lives. 

There are many tales of heroism from Oct. 7. Far too many lost their lives, risking all for the sake of others. Kalmanson fought to defend the freedom of left-leaning Israelis from a kibbutz whose ideology stood in stark contrast to his own beliefs. In turn, the residents of Be’eri have comforted the Kalmanson family in their grief, expressing deep gratitude for his extraordinary sacrifice and rallying around a settler family from the hills of Judea and Samaria.