Modi Amir was a brilliant and resourceful man and a pillar of his family. Modi was born in Giv’atayim in 1955, and he came to Kibbutz Kfar-Aza as part of a Nahal group at the age of 18. He met his wife Batya while studying for a biology BSc degree at Ben-Gurion University. They have established their house in Kibbutz Kfar-Aza, where they raised three daughters and a son. Modi was murdered at the age of 67 in his house in Kibbutz Kfar-Aza, early morning of October 7, 2023.
Modi was a self-made and self-taught man who had never met a challenge too great for his abilities. As a teenager he learned electricity, and he initially worked as an electrician in the Kibbutz. He later founded the computer division at Kfar-Aza’s factory. Impressed by his capabilities and achievements, associates from IBM asked him to come and work with them, and he had worked in IBM for twenty years. In 2015 he moved to a startup company called Resonai, where he worked to his last day.
Notwithstanding his successful career in high tech companies, Modi was always passionate about working with his own hands. He especially loved working with wood, and much of the family home was planned and built by Modi himself.
More than anything, Modi was devoted to his family. The story of his death stands as a testimony for how much he cherished and loved them. The terrorists broke into their house as early as 7:00 am on October 7. Modi bade the other family members that were with him in the house to hide in an inner room within the safe room. He then sat in the safe room, his back to the door behind which his family hid. The terrorists murdered Modi when they broke into the safe room, but his body was left blocking the door leading to the rest of the family. Modi’s last act of bravery and quick-thinking saved the lives of those he held dearest. His memory will remain as a beacon for his strong personality and how one can always protect even in the gravest of conditions.