But now the happy family has been destroyed: Yahav is dead, a victim of the brutal dawn massacre unleashed by Hamas terrorists on October 7.
The 37-year-old artist sacrificed his life so his beloved wife and month-old baby Shaya could live.
As the jihadis attacked, Shaylee, 34, cradled her baby whose every scream alerted Hamas to their position.
Instinctively, she ran into the bedroom of their home in Kfar Aza which, with its thick iron door, acted as the safe room.
They could hear the attackers outside. Suddenly a hand smashed through the window and removed the iron bar keeping it locked. Yahav moved forward to stop them from coming in while Shaylee escaped through the door.
“We didn’t have time to say goodbye,” Shaylee said. “As I moved with Shaya, Yahav was fighting with them. They were shooting at me and my baby. They wouldn’t leave us alone. They kept hunting us.”
A neighbouring couple hurriedly ushered them into safety and after a terrifying 27 hours, they were rescued by Israeli soldiers.
Later Shaylee discovered that Yahav had been shot in the head. “His dreamy blue eyes were still looking at the horizon,” she said.
“Instead of running, he tried to barricade a thin door against 70 terrorists. At first I couldn’t understand why. But then I realised: he was drawing their attention while we escaped.”
