Ben-Gera, Ehud

Ehud, son of Tamar and Asher, who was a Holocaust survivor, was born on January 13, 1952, on Kibbutz Beit Keshet. He attended elementary school in Beit Keshet and later continued his high school there. Ehud (also known as Udi) was a stubborn, independent and aggressive child who did not like to listen to the adults in charge, Though he did not pay close attention to classes in class, he knew the material well. According to his teacher, Udi stood out as a talented student who was interested in biology. He was awake, attentive to nature and lived it and loved animals very much. As a child, he always seemed to chew plants and used to pick fruit from the trees, knowing exactly which fruit trees were sweet and ripe. Ehud was active in the life of the class. He liked to travel, especially at night. When he finished high school, Ehud, who was the youngest of his classmates, decided to take a year of training in the “Mahanot Haolim” movement in Kiryat Bialik. His apprentices there loved and admired him. He liked to read detective novels and Westerns and he was an avid cinematographer. He knew and loved to sing, and he listened a lot to records; He especially enjoyed listening to Chava Alberstein’s records. He also danced well and played football well. Ehud was quick and full of movement. He loved to live, lived the present and never planned for the future (except planning a trip abroad, after completing his army service), humor and joking and telling jokes, yet he was sensitive to what was happening around him He was cynical and self-confident, and his confidence stemmed from his ability to do things easily and effortlessly, and in addition to his self-confidence Udi excelled at being able to accept things calmly and not to complain. He was very kind and willing to help others and help with everything. Ehud was drafted into the IDF at the beginning of November 1970 and assigned to the Golani Brigade. After completing his basic training, and after completing a high-grade infantry commander course, he was assigned to the “Gideon” battalion of the brigade. He completed a course for infantry officers and a 81-mm mortar officers and officers course (which he completed with very good grades) and was appointed commander of the mortars department in his battalion. In this role, his commanders admired him as a very good officer, competent, responsible and diligent, disciplined and very entrepreneurial, a first-rate professional who invested all his will and ability at work. According to his friends, his mortar division was the best in the brigade. He was very careful about his appearance and served as a personal example. He arranged everything, with a wide smile on his lips. Ehud was a good friend, but he knew how to be careful, and in principle matters, he did not agree to give up and the soldiers loved him very much. Ehud later became deputy commander of the auxiliary company in the battalion and was promoted to lieutenant. When the Yom Kippur War broke out, Ehud was about to finish his regular service. He was sent to a post near Kuneitra on the Golan Heights and on the 9th of Tishrei 5734 (9.10.1973), when he was observing the area of battle he got hit directly by a shell and was killed. He was brought to eternal rest in the Beit Keshet cemetery. Survived by his parents and six brothers and sisters. After his fall, he was promoted to captain. In a letter of condolence to the bereaved family, the commander of his regiment wrote: “Ehud performed his duties in a perfect and exemplary manner, with courage, dedication and art. His kibbutz published a pamphlet in his memory containing the words of his friends and also parts of his letters.