From the lookout point between “Kobi Hill” and “Shilo Hill,” everything can be seen at once: on one side, the city of Sderot, and on the other, just a short distance away, Gaza. It was precisely at this spot that “Cafe Chico” was recently inaugurated in memory of the late Capt. Shilo “Chico” Cohen, a native of the city, a fighter and team commander in the Shaldag Unit, who fell in battle in Be’eri on October 7. He was 24 when he died.
“We are in a very special location, at a lookout point that faces directly toward Gaza,” says Yaniv Tzabari, CEO of the Reut association, which operates the initiative. “From there, you can see the city of Sderot full of life, joy and children playing. A city where life has returned to its course despite everything that happened, and continues with full force — opposite the ruins of Gaza.”
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'Cafe Chico,' in memory of Capt. Shilo 'Chico' Cohen, at the lookout point named after him in Sderot
(Photo: Courtesy of the Reut association)
That is exactly the idea behind the initiative: not another monument, but a living place, where anyone who stops for coffee also comes to know Shilo himself. “We are filled with gratitude that people want to commemorate Shilo and make his presence felt in every possible way,” says his mother, Ruti Cohen.
‘A people person’
Shilo was born and raised in Sderot, in a warm and welcoming family — a brother to Itai, Ravid, Yizhar and Tehiya. He was a smiling child with dimples who loved traveling around Israel with his family, had golden hands and worked in welding. As a child, he was a member of the Bnei Akiva youth movement, and when he grew older he became an admired counselor. Later, after enlisting in the Shaldag Unit, he was chosen from among many for the coveted position of team commander.
“A sweet boy, full of joy, positivity and vitality, always with open arms,” his mother says. “He was a people person. It is no coincidence that everyone who knew him was immediately drawn to him. Shilo knew how to be a true friend and was always there for everyone. He also knew how to read situations, and quickly understood what needed to be done and how to act.”
Capt. Shilo Cohen during his military service
(Photo: Courtesy of the family)
At the same time, she says, he moved gracefully between two extremes: “A complete goofball, with a sense of humor that could knock you off your feet — and also someone with tremendous seriousness and depth. You could have amazing deep conversations with him, and in the same breath he could lighten the atmosphere in a second with jokes and a smile that came from the heart.”
He received the nickname “Chico” during his military service, and it was there, too, that the value he held most dear became even sharper: comradeship, which he sought to instill in his soldiers as an inseparable part of being a fighter.
“Before they went on leave for the holiday, Shilo told them, ‘I expect myself and each of you to strive for contact in defense of home,’” his mother says with pain. “A few days later, he lived that sentence to the very end.”
What do you remember from the first moments of that Saturday morning?
“It took a second, but very quickly we understood that something strange was happening. The alerts kept us in the safe room for about 20 minutes, and the moment we were able to leave, we also heard loud gunfire, the kind we had never heard before.”
'1,000 days of pain, of a huge void and of overwhelming longing'
(Photo: Courtesy of the family)
Shilo, who had been on weekend leave at his parents’ home in Sderot, did not wait for orders from his unit. He put on his uniform, took his weapon, got into his car and drove quickly to the local police station. When he saw there were enough forces there, he continued south.
At the entrance to the city, he spotted a military vehicle carrying a team from Sayeret Matkal, the elite General Staff Reconnaissance Unit. He joined them and set out for a long day of combat: Mefalsim, the Sa’ad Junction and finally Be’eri, where he fought stubbornly, saved residents and cleared homes of terrorists. He continued fighting even after he was wounded, until he was killed in one of the encounters. After his death, Shilo was promoted to the rank of captain.
“These have been 1,000 days of pain, of a huge void and of overwhelming longing,” Ruti says. “But also of other things for which we are full of gratitude, like the many commemorations people have established in his memory — people who knew him, and also those who were exposed to his story and were touched by it.”
A project of resilience
The idea for the coffee cart came from Elishiv, one of Shilo’s Bnei Akiva students, whose connection with him lasted until his final day.
“The initiative came from the heart,” Ruti says. “It was important to him to commemorate Shilo, and it was important to him that it be a cart that serves food, but also tells Shilo’s story to everyone who comes.”
'Cafe Chico.' 'We wanted to create a place that not only commemorates Shilo, but continues his path every day anew'
(Photo: Courtesy of the Reut association)
And so, alongside the coffee and fresh pastries, the site also includes “conversation cards” bearing meaningful moments from the brave commander’s life, so visitors are exposed not only to his final day, but above all “to the 24 meaningful and full years he lived here,” his mother explains.
The cart is operated by teenagers from Sderot, some of them Shilo’s students and friends. “This is not a food project, it is a project of memory and resilience,” Tzabari stresses. “We wanted to create a place that not only commemorates Shilo, but continues his path every day anew. All profits from the coffee cart are dedicated, as Shilo would have wanted, to the welfare of at-risk children and elderly residents of Sderot.”
Ruti, what does it do to you to see people celebrating life in a place that also serves to commemorate Shilo?
“I will give you the answer I give everyone who asks me that question: In the case of such a tragic loss, there are two possibilities — either you close the door and cope with the absence and pain alone, or you make sure to fill that absence with many meaningful things.”
'Cafe Chico.' 'This is not a food project, it is a project of memory and resilience'
(Photo: Courtesy of the Reut association)
Indeed, the cafe is only one of many initiatives commemorating her heroic son that have emerged over these 1,000 days: a vineyard bearing Shilo’s name, a synagogue, a Torah scroll, a lookout point, a youth counselors’ conference — and no fewer than 15 babies born since then who were named after him.
“None of this happened because of any request from us,” Ruti says. “Everything was done by people who knew Shilo — or did not know him, but were exposed to who he was. And we are deeply grateful for that.”
- “Cafe Chico” is located at Shilo Lookout, 150 Moshe Rabbeinu St., Sderot. Opening hours: Sunday through Wednesday, 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Thursday, 9 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.; and Friday, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. It is strictly kosher.