Dear Friends,

Col. Moshe Rienitz, a former Sar-El board member, passed away on May 17 after fighting cancer for several months.  Visiting with him in the hospital, he showed his courage and optimism.  He knew that his kind of cancer was incurable, but he kept his good spirit in order not to sadden his friends... and he had many of them.  One of his friends was Sar-El Deputy Commander, Michael Allouche, who remembers of Moshe the following:

I met Moshe (Moyshik) Reinitz when he joined General Davidi on his visit to me and my group of volunteers at Julis, back in 1986.  At that time, Moyshik, still a civilian, was a Sar-El board member, and soon after, he rejoined the military and became the Sar-El Commander, receiving the rank of Lt. Col.  Moyshik as he liked to be called, won me over right away with his warm smile and his ability to talk to people with an open heart and always at the same level.  He never thought of himself as a "big shot."  I respected him and admired him for these and many more qualities I found in him, but most of all, I respected him and loved him for the love he had for the country and the State of Israel, always trying to find a new way to make it a better place to live.  He did the same thing while he was in Sar-El, always trying to improve the program.

Over the years, he was the one who organized and produced the annual Sar-El reunions in Jerusalem, doing a perfect job in each one of them.  He also organized and produced the beautiful party on my retirement from the military after 28 years of service, 13 of which were in the service of Sar-El as a madrich. 

Moyshik was like an excellent wine:  He got better and better with age.  When I was offered the position of the Sar-El Deputy Commander, he greeted me there as if I were a member of his family!  He made me feel at home and taught me everything I had to learn to do my job well.  He immediately made sure that I would come for dinner to his villa in Kfar Hess, with my wife, our daughter and her family, and made everyone feel at home with his warm smile and open heart.

For all that he did, I love him, respect him and will always remember him as a gentleman and an officer, a great commander, a man of many talents and a dear friend.  For all that I thank G-d for giving me the opportunity to have known Moshe Reinitz.

Moshe contributed so much and he will be missed.

Shalom,

Davidi