'Always looked out for the little guy,' friends say of Omer Neutra

(JNS) - Michelle Rich, director of teen travel and international engagement at United Synagogue Youth, laughs as she tells JNS about a memory she has of Omer Neutra, an Israeli-American 22-year-old, whose death on Oct. 7 Israel confirmed on Monday.

On a USY bus trip across the country in 2016, Neutra and his friend came down from the hotel and "they had given each other haircuts," Rich recalled.

"I was like, 'call your parents please,'" she said.

"He was so smiley, and so happy and so jolly," Rich added. "He just moved people in so many different ways. He was a good neshama," a good "soul."

The news of Neutra's death sent shockwaves through the Jewish community. For more than a year, he was believed to be alive and held hostage in Gaza. Neutra's parents, Ronen and Orna Neutra, have been among the most vocal advocates on the national and global stage on behalf of their son and the other hostages.

U.S. President Joe Biden and other officials have called for his body to be returned to Israel. "Our hearts are heavy today," the president stated, adding that he and the first lady "are devastated and outraged to learn of the death of Omer Neutra, an American citizen, whose body Hamas has apparently been holding since they killed him during their brutal terrorist attack on Oct. 7."

Alyssa Mendelowitz, who was a classmate of Neutra's starting in first grade and who participated in USY with him, told JNS that "there is no right way to process something that we thought was different for a year and a half."

Neutra had a "magnetic" personality, according to Mendelowitz.

"No matter how well you knew him, you were drawn to the environment he was in," she said. "For some reason, having him in the room made things so much easier."

Eitan Gitlin, who attended Schechter School of Long Island with Neutra and was also a part of USY, told JNS that he was "intimidated" by Neutra, who was "such a cool guy." 

"In high school, we did USY and volleyball, basketball and soccer," Gitlin told JNS. "We always ran parallel, and I always looked up to him."

Not only was Neutra's energy magnetic, but the latter had "so much" of it, according to Gitlin. He recalled Neutra painted all in blue screaming "until he didn't have a voice anymore" during a "bible bowl" at a summer teen retreat through USY, during which community leaders led chants, sang songs and competed in games.

"He had so much ruach," Gitlin said, using the Hebrew word for "spirit."

"He cared so much and loved what he was doing," he added. "When we walked into the room as he chanted, everyone did."

'A true leader'

Jared Rogers grew up with Neutra in Long Island and told JNS that the two essentially shared every aspect of their childhoods.

"We basically did all the same things growing up," he said. "We went to the same synagogue, same school, same youth group, lived in the same neighborhood, rode our bikes around it every weekend. Our families are friends."

The two met in elementary school and attended Midway Jewish Center, a Conservative synagogue in Hicksville, N.Y. They attended Scechter and ran cross country together. When Neutra became regional president of the metropolitan New York region of USY, no one was surprised, according to Rogers.

"Omer was a natural leader, who everyone gravitated toward," he said. "He always made people feel safe and like they belonged. Always looked out for the little guy."

Tali Schor, another classmate of Neutra's from first grade and a former USY member, told JNS that "anyone you talk to about Omer will say that he's a true leader."

"He had the most electric personality. That's what I'll always remember about him," she said, noting that Neutra brought "humor and good spirit" to "every room he was in."

Schor remembered when Neutra was wheelchair bound in third grade after breaking his foot. "It was Purim and he was in costume, and everyone stood around him," she said. "He was making everyone laugh even when he was in pain himself."

'Not a choice, a conviction'

Gitlin told JNS that he remembers when Neutra first decided to stay in Israel. 

"I was talking to a mutual friend. He said, 'Yeah, he'll stay in Israel and then come back.' Then we looked at each other, 'Yeah, he's not coming back,'" Gitlin said. "Even then, we knew. All of us knew he was going to stay in Israel."

For Neutra, love of Judaism and the Jewish state were "inextricably linked," Schor told JNS.

"Judaism and Israel were everything to Omer, and that was true from the moment that we met him," she said. 

When Neutra opted to join the Israel Defense Forces, "it wasn't a choice, it was a conviction," Schor said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu noted Neutra's love of the Jewish state when expressing condolences to his family. "Omer was a man of values, blessed with talents and a Zionist in every inch of his limbs," the Israeli premier said.

"Making a sacrifice to protect Israel and all of us, he's a hero for that," Schor told JNS.

Mendelowitz said that "the most important thing for everyone to do is to carry him through your words and actions every day."

"Smile more, because that's who he was and his smile made people feel better," she said.