Zachary Brown, 23-24, was raised in Toronto and was an active member of the Jewish community, attending Jewish elementary and high schools (Associated Hebrew School and the Bnei Akiva Or Chaim high school, respectively). Brown’s father, Jeffrey Brown, is a former president at the Beth Avraham Yoseph Synagogue in Thornhill, Ont. The rabbi at the synagogue, Daniel Korobkin, told The Canadian Jewish News (CJN) that the Brown family are “very strong religious Zionists.”

CJN reported that Brown, who they described as a “young, patriotic diaspora Jew” that put his “faith and Zionism into action with boots on the ground to defend Israel,” served in the Israeli military from 2019 to 2021, and “saw combat” in Israel’s assault on Palestinians in May 2021.

Brown served in the Kfir Brigade (alongside another soldier included in this database, Daniel Dalfen) as a “top sharpshooter.” He described the brigade as a “combat unit that primarily specializes in urban warfare in the West Bank.” He added that he led “countless, countless checkpoints; countless patrols” and had been on “many arrests” as well as monitoring “lots of protests.” Brown decided to stay in Israel after his service, saying, “Israel is my home; Toronto is a place I visit.”

Zachary’s brother Benjamin Brown was also in the Israeli military and is included in this database. Korobkin told CJN that both brothers joining the Israeli army was a “natural outcome” of the education they received at their Jewish schools, as well as other factors. A mother of one of Benjamin’s classmates said that around a quarter of their high school class joined the Israeli army, and that the students are commemorated with a plaque in the school. Both brothers also have had their service in the military celebrated in the Beth Avraham Yoseph Synagogue’s newsletter.