This obituary on Bobby Luz was written by his four children , Aviel, Gilad, Maccabi and Tsiona.

Bobby Luz was born in 1930 in Manchester, UK. Along with his law studies and work as a solicitor, he was active in Zionist organizations and especially Habonim where he became North England head, and also met Judy, a red- headed activist from Liverpool.

They married in 1958. Later in life Bobby always said he knew from the age of twelve that he would spend his life in Israel. In 1960 he left his law practice and the young couple came on aliyah and made Herzliya their home.

Bobby was unknowingly recruited through an old Manchester friend to the Mossad. His first assignment, from the then Head – Isser Harel – just a few weeks before he was supposed to start his work there, was to go to Manchester in search of the kidnapped child, Yossale Schumacher.

Bobby was in the Mossad for 33 years. Among his activities he handled agents, constructed cover stories and arranged safe homes. Once he was allowed to, he enjoyed reminiscing about how his information led to the damaging beyond repair of a large shipment of armed vehicles to Egypt, how he obtained detailed maps of the Entebbe airport during the hostage crisis and much more.

But what Bobby was proud of the most was his job as leading the protection of Jews in danger abroad. In that capacity he headed and oversaw the “Moshe” (1984) and “Shlomo” (1986) operations for the gathering and rescuing of the Jews of Ethiopia.

But Bobby also loved having fun. From the early days in Habonim into life in Israel, he always kept the flame of good old British humor in joking, writing and partying with the family’s many friends.

Bobby’s Jewish identity was central to his life and he always strived to learn what he felt he missed in his upbringing. He loved attending ‘Shiurim’ and other lectures in Raanana. He was a great fan and supporter of the “House on Wheels” organization, which always brought him to tears.

At home he enjoyed watching all sports and especially his beloved Manchester United and the England squad, and looking after numerous cats and dogs.

Bobby led a very active and rich life including driving until recently. He loved going to concerts, in recent years since Judy’s passing, with his best companion Sheila. He loved theater, opera, travelling around the world, and had quite late in life taken to river cruises in Europe in which he participated until a few months ago.

Just last December he went with his sons to ‘Limmud’ Jewish learning festival in the UK as he did for over 15 years.

He also volunteered for years in ESRA, and as none of his children know what he exactly did, we assume he was also under cover there too…

print Email article to a friend
Rate this article 
 

Post a Comment




Related Articles

 

About the author

Script Execution Time: 0.071 seconds-->