DeLuya, Yehuda (Zeno)

Son of Sima and Albert, hewas born on October 14, 1954 in Morocco and immigrated to Israel with his family in 1965. Yehuda was drafted into the IDF in early 1972 and volunteered to serve in the Paratroopers Brigade, after completing basic training for infantry and platoon commanders, and was assigned to the Haruv reconnaissance unit. At the end of the war he successfully completed an officer’s course and was assigned to the Shaked reconnaissance unit, and Yehuda successfully fulfilled all his duties and was loved by his commanders and soldiers, Yehuda enrolled in Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, and received a bachelor’s degree as an industrial and management engineer. Yehuda made a long trip in Europe and the Far East, and climbed the Himalayas in Nepal. Upon his return, he took part in a reserve duty course and completed an apprenticeship and was accepted to work at Delta, and was supposed to serve as the company’s representative in Europe. After many pleas and petitions he was recruited a month after the fighting broke out and was stationed in the eastern sector. On 2 Av, July 22, 1982, which was called “the day of the battle,” Captain Yehuda fell in battle in Lebanon and was brought to eternal rest in the cemetery in Rishon Letzion. Yehuda was promoted to the rank of major after he fell. He left behind his parents, two brothers and two sisters. A certificate of appreciation after his fall was written: “Served in the battalion in various positions until the position of company commander. Yehuda served for many years in our battalion in various command positions, and he always filled them in a praiseworthy manner,” he wrote in a condolence letter to the family. He proved that he is a responsible officer with an excellent profession, dedicated and caring for his soldiers, disciplined and at the same time quiet and modest.” Two weeks after his death, his father died. The family commemorated the introduction of a Torah scroll in his name to a synagogue in Rechovot.