In memory of their late son and brother, the Balva family has dedicated memorials in his name across Ecuador and Israel. The Rockville family thought it only fitting to return to the place Omer Balva spent 13 formative years: Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School.

The Rockville day school community recently dedicated its Upper School dining hall and Sephardic minyan to Balva, an Israeli American and CESJDS alumnus who was killed in northern Israel on the Lebanon border in a missile attack on Oct. 20, 2023.

“We’re doing so many things for Omer,” said Eyal Balva, Omer’s father, referencing the family’s Instagram campaign Be Kind as Omer.

The Balvas are in the process of opening a coffee shop in Netu’a, Israel, to mark the place Omer was killed. A two-kilometer trail there contains quotes from letters that Omer wrote, and a stone bench is inscribed with Omer’s name.

“We have something similar in Herzliya, which is where he mostly lived during his time in Israel,” Barak Balva, Omer’s older brother, told Washington Jewish Week.

Also in Herzliya is a basketball court in Omer’s memory and 1,500 meal donations made on holidays for those experiencing food insecurity. A boardwalk in Tiberias, Israel, bears Omer’s name. So does an Ecuadorian school’s computer room, a dentist’s office, medical clinic, a cafeteria, a laundromat and a mini market, all in Ecuador, where Eyal Balva grows flowers for his business.

The family also grants scholarships to students at Reichman University in Israel, where Balva studied business and economics.

“[My wife,] Sigal, told me that it’s very important that we do something [at] JDS because this is the school that he used to go … from [kindergarten],” Eyal Balva said.

Eyal and Sigal Balva donated a major gift to CESJDS in Omer’s honor. On May 28, hundreds of friends, family members, alumni and community members gathered at the school for a morning minyan and dedication ceremony.

The program featured reflections from CESJDS Head of School Rabbi Mitchel Malkus; CESJDS parent Elias Saratovsky, CEO of Birthright Israel; AIPAC CEO Elliot Brandt; alumni parent Jon Missner and Omer’s sister, Shahar Balva.

“We had a chance to remember Omer, to talk about the kind of person that he was and also to think about how his memory will inspire us to be better people and to be kind like him,” Malkus told Washington Jewish Week.

“This would have been his 25th birthday,” Barak Balva said. “So it was very emotional to have had a ceremony at JDS, where they unveiled the dining hall that will be in his honor.”

Omer Balva attended CESJDS from kindergarten through his senior year of high school.

“Omer was a big personality,” Malkus said. “He had a huge smile. When he would walk in the room, everyone would notice. He was really passionate about the things he cared deeply about.”

“Omer loved the school,” Barak Balva said. “He was always involved in so many activities there.”

During his time at CESJDS, Balva played on the varsity soccer team, performed in theater productions, studied Hebrew with an Israeli student group and made an effort to interact with “everyone in his class,” regardless of whether they were close friends.

After graduating in 2019, he enlisted in the Israel Defense Forces.

“He cared deeply about Israel, and he had for a long time known that he wanted to move back to Israel and enlist in the IDF,” Malkus said of Balva.

Balva finished his army service in 2022 and was studying at Reichman University. He was visiting friends in Maryland for Sukkot when the Israel-Hamas war broke out in October 2023, and Balva was called up as a reservist in the IDF.

After he was killed, the CESJDS community planted a tree outside the school in Balva’s memory and held a dedication ceremony attended by more than 500 community members, with hundreds more joining via livestream.

CESJDS students donned “Be Kind as Omer” shirts on Yom Hazikaron, Israel’s day of remembrance for fallen soldiers and victims of terrorism. The Balvas created these shirts, hats and bracelets to spread his message of kindness and carry on his legacy.

“I know people say this a lot about those who have passed, but there was something extra good about him, this goodness that I generally don’t find often,” Barak Balva said.

Balva’s older siblings, who also attended CESJDS, spoke to the importance of memorializing their brother within the walls of the school he loved.

“[Omer] was very much immersed in [the CESJDS community], so I think there is something beautiful and comforting knowing that while we are [in Israel] and our focus is here, these things are taken care of in a place that was essentially his second home,” Barak Balva said.

“We have fond memories of the school, that supporting the school … just felt like a no-brainer,” Shahar Balva added.

She recalled walking to CESJDS with Balva in the mornings, and how committed her brother had been to Judaism and prayer.

“I would be like, ‘Let’s just skip the minyan. Let’s go at 8:30,’” Shahar Balva said. “For Omer, it was so important every day to get there at 8 a.m. to be part of the minyan, to be part of the Sephardic community.”

Reflecting the Balva family’s heritage and a place Balva frequented, CESJDS’ Sephardic minyan is now known as the Omer Balva ‘19 z”l Mehitzah Sepharadi Zman Kodesh.

Eyal and Sigal Balva chose to also dedicate the Upper School’s dining hall to their late son in case the Sephardic minyan ever relocated or ceased to exist.

“Now we know that every day, when the kids and teachers come into the school, everyone sees Omer[’s] name and sees [his] picture,” Eyal Balva said. “That’s meaning a lot to us, to the family.”

It was also important for Malkus to do something to honor Balva before departing from CESJDS — Jonathan Levy will succeed Malkus as head of school starting July 1. “I knew Omer; I knew him as a student at the school,” Malkus said.

“We were very proud of him for his service to the State of Israel,” he added. “Then I’ve developed a closer relationship with [his family] after his death, and I wanted to make sure that I was here to mark this moment with them together.”

“For me, it’s incredibly important that people remember my brother, that people remember his story,” Barak Balva said.

zbell@midatlanticmedia.com