While he was growing up, Israel Defense Forces Capt. Aryeh Shlomo Ziering would spend summers in Bangor, hiking and spending time with his family and grandfather, former state senator Howard Trotsky.
He would visit Maine with his parents and three younger siblings, seeing the place where his mom, Debbie Ziering, grew up. They would visit the Maine Discovery Museum and hike Cadillac Mountain.
Ziering, 27, was killed Saturday during the surprise Hamas attack. As a member of the Israel Defense Forces’ canine unit, Ziering was helping find hostages when he was killed, Trotsky said.
Trotsky was a former high school teacher in Bangor and also served for eight years as a Republican state senator in the 1970s and 1980s.
He learned about his grandson’s death when his rabbi came by Saturday afternoon, with Debbie Ziering on the phone. Trotsky first thought was she was calling to tell him everyone was okay, despite the attacks.
“When I got on, she was crying and she said, ‘Daddy, Aryeh was killed,’” Trotsky said. “It was almost surreal. But, you know, rationally right off, it’s true. It’s just your emotions take time to kick in, to catch up with what you just heard.”
Hamas took about 150 hostages on Saturday and about 1,200 Israelis have been killed since then. About 1,400 Palestians have also been killed, with 30 to 40 percent of those being children, CNN reported.
There is a “complete siege” of Gaza, meaning no electricity, food, fuel or water will be allowed into the Palestinian enclave, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said. Before the war started, people living in Gaza had limited access to clean drinking water and power outages were constant because of damage to the grid, according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees.
Aryeh, whose name means lion in Hebrew, was a shy, quiet kid who loved the Boston Red Sox and New England Patriots, his father Mark Ziering said at the funeral Tuesday.
Aryeh Ziering loved playing basketball and would practice shooting every day. He considered playing college basketball, but instead had to do the mandatory three years with the Israeli Defense Force.
He spent seven years with the Israeli Defense Force and chose to go into a specialized unit, the Oketz, where he was a canine handler, rising through the ranks until he was a captain at the time of his death. He was posthumously promoted to a major.
Soldiers Ziering knew have been coming to his parents’ house, telling them about what Ziering was like as a leader and offering their condolences, Trotsky said.
“He led by example,” Trotsky said. “He was a commander who demanded excellence in his men but was still compassionate, sensitive and never screamed at them, is what they told her.”
It’s slowly sinking in for Trotsky that Ziering is gone and the family is forever altered. He is adjusting to that life and is worried for his daughter, son-in-law and his adult grandchildren.
During the funeral, Debbie Ziering spoke about carrying her son for nine months, just below her heart, and how she now has to live without him.
“It was the greatest privilege to have you as a son,” Debbie Ziering said at the funeral.
