Lotan Yitzhaki was born on February 24, 1961 in Afikim to Hanna and Yosef. Yosef was born in Russia and moved to the US as a young boy. He attended Yeshiva University and compiled an important study on language in the Rennaissance period. He made aliya in 1934 and settled in Kibbutz Afikim.
Hanna was the daughter of the Jewish scholar Yekutiel Neubauer. During World War II she was active in the Dutch underground. After the war she made aliya and also joined Kibbutz Afikim.
Lotan was the youngest of his parents' children. They raised him to love the country. He attended the kibbutz elementary school and then the regional high school in the Jordan Valley - Beit Yerach.
Before entering the army he volunteered for a year's service to the settlements in the Adullam region and became very attached to the children and youngsters of Moshav Aderet.
Lotan was drafted into the IDF and served in the Golani Brigade. On June 24, 1982, during the battle for Hamdun in the Shalom Hagalil (First Lebanon) War he was killed and buried in the cemetery in Kibbutz Afikim.
He left behind a mother, a brother and three sisters. With the help of the family, Lotan House was established in Moshav Aderet. Lotan House was designed to serve educational and cultural activities for the children of the moshav, in the spirit of Lotan’s guidance.
