Honoring 'The Last Samurai': Fallen soldier Adi Tzur remembered with new home for abandoned dogs

The first time Tali Abadi met Adi Tzur, he was just 16. After losing their beloved dog, Sky, the Tzur family decided it was time to open their home again. Despite five-year-old Leni’s size, age, and trauma, she was the perfect fit for Adi. Accompanied by her foster parents, Leni made the long trip from Haifa to Jerusalem for a chance at a new beginning.

Adi had been the driving force behind bringing Leni home, spending months researching which dog most needed a chance and was least likely to get one.

“The first few weeks were very difficult; she was fearful and withdrawn,” remembered Adi’s mother, Sigal. “Adi cared for her with great devotion, showered her with love, and slowly softened her heart. He gave Leni a home and a new life.”

Not long after Leni had settled into her new life with the Tzurs, Adi enlisted in the army. “Each time he came home, the first hug was always with her,” Sigal said. “She waited for him, for the young prince who had saved her and given her life.”

After Adi’s death, his parents, Meir and Sigal, discovered that Leni was just one of many dogs he had quietly saved. When his phone was returned to them, they found it filled with photos of abused, injured, and neglected dogs he saved – a hidden record of his compassion.

“He was a jewel of rare beauty and uniqueness, blooming slowly and opening like a beautiful flower,” his parents wrote on his memorial page, noting how they had named him after the precious stone God gave to the Hebrews on Mount Sinai.

The youngest of three, Adi had been known for his love of sports and as a man who demonstrated his love through actions. After his death, Sigal said, hundreds of people reached out to share stories of how Adi had touched their lives. He had helped many new soldiers, as they struggled to adjust to army life, with his kindness and compassion, the same gentleness he showed to a new student in his high school class who had moved to the city without an established social network.

“He had endless charm and a natural warmth that drew people close. We used to call him Neshama Yetera [an extra soul] because of his rare gentleness,” Sigal shared. “Adi’s kind nature and genuine friendship earned him many friends. He connected people, and our backyard was always full of his friends, whom he brought together.”

The last time Leni saw Adi, before he returned to base, Adi dropped all his bags and embraced Leni deeply, “though there was no time to spare,” Sigal recounted. Leni never stopped waiting for her beloved Adi to come home.

Since the loss of their son, Sigal shared that caring for Leni had been a lifeline for the family.

“For us, she is Adi’s legacy, his living will. We care for her and love her just as he did. It eases the pain a little, knowing she was his choice. She has become a gentle, loving dog because of him,” she shared.

Adi had the option to end his military service early, Sigal said. Doctors had advised him to end his service after he suffered hearing loss during basic training, but he wanted to continue to defend his country.

Adi was one of 45 people, including 27 soldiers and a number of Thai workers, killed in the small agricultural community that day. His family learned of his fate only on October 10, three days after he fell. The next day, they laid him to rest in Jerusalem’s Mount Herzl Military Cemetery.

Adi left behind, in addition to his parents, two older brothers, Roy and Amit, and his girlfriend of six years, Inbal.

To honor the values that defined Adi’s life, his parents turned to Tali with a request: that Lives of Others build a home for dogs in his memory.

“He dreamed of creating a safe and warm haven for stray, abused, and elderly dogs – those with little chance of being adopted,” Sigal said. “Adi believed that dogs are a person’s most loyal and faithful friends, and he felt deeply connected to them. Even during his army service, he fed and cared for strays near his base, sharing his own food and asking other soldiers to watch over them when he couldn’t. He had a big, generous soul.”

“From a young age, Adi was a boy of action, not words. He did countless good deeds quietly, never seeking attention. His humility, compassion, and deep respect for every living being was striking... so sometimes I felt like I was raising a child from a different era,” Sigal said, explaining the appropriateness of the tribute.

The Avnei Sapir Synagogue in the Arava and Scoutrix, a start-up that helps young athletes grow and connect, were also founded in Adi’s name.

The Tzurs have also traveled to communities throughout the Diaspora to share the story of their son, a young man with strong values and a love for every living creature.

Founded in 2016 by animal lovers Dvora and Tali, Lives of Others quickly established a shelter in Ramat Gan to honor Adi’s memory, opening its doors in November 2023.

The pair had long opposed the limited fates available to most unwanted dogs in Israel, confinement in crowded kennels or euthanasia, and began creating home-style sanctuaries instead.

Their first house opened near Tel Aviv, followed by a second dedicated to M.-Sgt. Yair Katz, 34, of the 14th Armored Reserves Brigade. Yair, originally from Holon, was killed fighting in the Gaza Strip in January 2024. Only weeks before his death, he had called Tali to ask how he could rescue the stray puppies he had encountered there – a moment that stayed with Tali as they opened the Kiryat Gat home. Today, seven dogs live there, animals that would otherwise, as Tali said, “probably never find a home.”

At any given time, the home dedicated to Adi, “The Magic House,” shelters between 40 and 60 dogs. The house is divided into two sections: one where visitors can meet the smaller or more socialized dogs, and another for the larger or older animals, which require gentler handling and more experienced care.

The community has quickly embraced the shelter, which has become a small hub of neighborhood life. Local residents often stop by to take dogs for walks, though the center is always eager for more volunteers and one-time walkers. Scout groups regularly visit to learn about the dogs, the work of Lives of Others, and the sacrifice that inspired The Magic House. Recently, professional dog trainers have also begun volunteering, helping to prepare the animals for their ultimate goal: adoption into loving families.

Despite the warmth and support surrounding The Magic House, Tali admitted that “this hasn’t been a good year.” Adoptions and donations have dropped sharply, even as more dogs are being abandoned. In a typical year, Lives of Others manages to place around 250 dogs in homes. This year, that number fell by more than half, to just 120.

Tali shared that some of the more recent additions to The Magic House were returning faces, dogs that had been adopted seven years ago, and whose owners no longer wanted them. While one would expect Tali to be upset, she said that the dogs’ return was preferable to the alternatives: abandonment, neglect, abuse, or even death. Still, every dog returned is one less space another dog could use.

Asked about families abroad adopting dogs, Tali said that one of their rescues, Luna, would soon fly to Finland to join a woman who had already adopted two dogs from Lives of Others.

“Canada and America are the easiest places to send dogs, because they don’t require the three-month waiting period for the rabies test,” she explained, noting that she arranged for two dogs to travel abroad for only $200.