Asulin, Yaakov

Yaakov, son of Aliza and Yitzhak, was born in 1947 in Morocco and immigrated to Israel with his family in 1955. In Israel he attended elementary school and high school in Moshav Komemiyot. Yaakov loved school and excelled in literature. He devoted many hours to reading books and was also interested in politics and events in the Middle East. During his free time he wrote poems and used to read them in the family circle. He was involved in extensive social activities in his moshav – Oshim. On Sabbath and holidays, he organized parties and company meetings and went on trips with the youth in the moshav. Yaakov was a friendly boy, pleasant-tempered and always willing to help others. Among the moshavim he was known as a person who could always be approached in times of trouble. He loved his family and was a devoted and loyal son to his parents. Yaakov was drafted into the IDF in the middle of August 1967. After completing basic training, he took part in a course for military police and was assigned to the military police unit in Gaza, where he received the name of a dedicated and responsible soldier, as he used to tell his friends in the moshav. During his army service, he visited and helped at home, and spent most of his vacations on a social organization in Moshav Otsem. In August 1970, Yaakov was released from regular service and began to run a farm in Moshav Otsem. In 1972 he married a wife. When the Yom Kippur War broke out, Yaakov was called to active duty and assigned to one of the armored units. He participated in the battles of containment and incursion against the Egyptians on the Sinai front. On the 26th of Tishrei 5734 (22.10.1973), he was killed by a shell while he was driving a traffic jam in one of the bridges erected by the IDF across the Suez Canal. In his letter of condolence to the bereaved family, his commander wrote: “Until the last moments of his life, Yaakov fulfilled his duties and did not abandon his post, despite the heavy shelling. He was a devoted soldier and a loyal friend and friend of all who knew him. “