Benyamini, Yosef

Son of Rivka and Simantov Menoah. Born in 1879 in Daghestan, Caucasus, Russia, his father was a rabbi in his city, and Yosef received a traditional education in his childhood. In 1906 he immigrated to Israel with his mother, his brother and sister and the family settled in Jerusalem. Yosef went to work at the Rishon Letzion winery, and after a while returned to live in Jerusalem where he dealt in petty commerce. He became friends with David Ben-Gurion and Yitzhak Ben-Zvi. When the First World War broke out he had to choose between volunteering and leaving the country, he chose to go to the United States, where he was active in the Poalei Zion movement. He initiated the establishment of the Jewish Workers’ House in Cleveland and published articles in the New York-based daily Forward. He returned to Israel and on February 22, 1933, Bedouins boarded the Soldiers’ Hilltop, trying to harass the settlers, their land and their property. Yosef, who headed the defenders, was beaten in the head by death in broad daylight by British police, and died a few hours later. He was laid to rest on the hill. He left a wife and an only child from a first marriage.