Family Haggadah

Daniel was born on the 6th January 1979, in Toronto, Canada to Cheryl and David Mandel. He is the younger brother of Nicole and Jonah and the older brother of Gabriel and Shlomo.He was a very sociable child and showed qualities of leadership from very early on. When he turned eight his family came on Aliyah and settled in Alon Shvut in Gush Etzion. He rapidly became a central figure both at school and in the Bnei Akiva youth movement in Gush Etzion. Daniel was also a gifted musician After high school, Daniel devoted one and a half years before his call-up to study at the pre-army “Preparation Program” in Atzmona in Gush Katif.

In March 1999, Daniel joined the ranks of the Nachal Brigade. He was assigned to the reconnaissance company. He was a soldier in the Amit platoon. A friend in his team recalls: “….Mendel was synonymous with excellence and he left his mark on the team, forever.” Daniel completed his training course in November 2000, and his unit requested that he serve as a Non Commissioned Officer (NCO) for training recruits. Thereafter he went on the officers’ course and returned to the unit as platoon commander of the November 2001 recruits.

Daniel was killed in 2003, in battle in Nablus on “Yod Gimel Nissan” at 5am as “Mendel Platoon Commander” while leading his soldiers in an operation to capture three wanted terrorists responsible for the deaths of at least thirty and the injury of over one hundred and fourty Israelis.Daniel was buried in the Kfar Etzion cemetery. Thousands of people paid Daniel their last respects.
Daniel leaves behind his parents, three brothers, one sister, three nephews and many, many loving friends.