Chalak Reuven (Ruby)
The son of Helen and Yitzhak (Zaki). Reuven (Ruby) was born in Beirut, Lebanon on January 1, 1945. A fourth child to his parents, brother to Sarah, Joseph (Joe), Stella and Eddie. Reuven’s childhood was spent in Beirut. Together with his family, he took part in the activities of the Jewish community in the city, an activity in which he was exposed to the values of Jewish religion and tradition and sparked a connection to Zionism and love for the Land of Israel. At the Alliance school, where Reuven studied, the connection to the young State of Israel and to the Zionist enterprise strengthened, which contributed greatly to the decision he had taken at a young age to immigrate to Israel. Reuven and his younger brother Eddie immigrated to Israel on October 29, 1961 as part of the “Youth Aliyah” project, on a journey from Lebanon via Turkey. The two brothers were absorbed in Israel at the Son of Shemen Youth Village, where they lived in a boarding school and attended school. Reuven was eighteen years old in 1963. He began his military service in the navy, and from there went to serve in the officers’ training course at the base of Sirkin, near Petah Tikva. On Friday, 26 March 1965, Private Reuven split the border into Lebanon, in circumstances that have not yet been ascertained to this day. Reuven fell on 23.3.1965, the day after he entered Lebanon, when a routine patrol of Lebanese soldiers spotted him and shot him dead. Reuven was twenty years old when he fell. He left parents, two brothers and two sisters. The circumstances surrounding Reuven’s death were published in several media outlets in Israel and Lebanon. In an official statement issued by the Lebanese government, it was reported that the Israeli government was not interested in returning Reuven’s body to Israel and his family, who was still living in Beirut at the time, decided to bury him in the Jewish cemetery in Sidon, as close as possible to the border with Israel. In 1982, seventeen years after ReuSon of’s fall, Zvi Bar, commander of the Border Police and the direct commander of Eddie’s brother Reuven, began working to bring his body to burial in Israel. In order to carry out the complex task, Zvi Bar approached the Chief Rabbi of the Border Police, who received the approval of the IDF military rabbi for the move, and after the efforts were successful, Reuven’s body was brought from Lebanon to Israel. The Military Cemetery in Kiryat Shaul, Tel Aviv The circumstances surrounding Reuven’s entry into Lebanon and the circumstances surrounding his death are still in the dark.In the years following his death and after his body was brought to Israel, And as a result of the family’s repeated requests to the IDF and the Defense Ministry, Major General Orna Barbibay, an investigative team, decided to recognize Reuven as an IDF soldier
