In February 2002, in a routine operation in Gaza, 24-year-old Lieutenant Pinchas "Pini" Cohen was tragically shot by friendly fire. A life full of promise was lost, and with it, the world shifted for his family, forever.
Rivka Cohen, Pini’s mother, reflects on her son with a deep, quiet strength. “I always tell people—he wasn’t just a hero in war. He was a hero in life. It wasn’t only what he did in the army, but how he saw others. How he cared. He would look at someone and ask himself, ‘How can I help?’”
Pini wasn’t just another soldier. He was the kind of man who couldn’t leave anyone behind, not a soldier, not a friend, not even a teammate in a simple school game of basketball. He had a way of making people feel seen, valued, and cared for.
When Rivka lost her son, she could have joined the endless ranks of mothers who live in grief, their lives swallowed by their loss. But Rivka chose a different path. She decided to honor Pini’s memory, not just by mourning him, but by continuing his mission of kindness.
In the heart of the Ofra settlement, where the Cohen family lives, Rivka opened Beit Pini (Pini’s House). It’s a place of comfort and warmth for soldiers, any soldier, at any time, where they can come, sit, eat, and rest, just as they would in their own mother’s home. For Rivka, it’s a way of offering a mother’s love to all those who need it. She says, “I wanted to create something that would let him live on in the way he lived his life, by giving, by caring.”
But she didn’t stop there.
A legacy preserved
Rivka, in a way only a mother with such a profound loss could understand, saw another need. She founded a mechina, a pre-military academy, for young people from broken homes, troubled backgrounds, and the streets. Many of these teenagers had nowhere else to turn, and through the mechina, they were given a chance to rebuild their lives before they entered the army. Rivka’s vision wasn’t just about helping them find direction; it was about giving them a second chance at life.
Through this initiative, Pini’s legacy continues to save lives. Hundreds of young people, once lost, are now finding their way, just as Pini would have wanted.
Pini’s story didn’t end with his death. His legacy lives on in the lives of the soldiers who find comfort at Beit Pini, in the teenagers who have a chance to rebuild, and in the countless acts of kindness that ripple outward from his mother’s heart.
Rivka is a fighter, continuing her son’s mission in ways that only someone who had loved so deeply could. And in doing so, she has ensured that Pini’s spirit will never fade, that his kindness and love for others will continue to shine brightly for years to come.