Elmazalino, Yehuda (“Leoncho”)
Son of Shem Tov and his light. He was born on July 23, 1953 in Jaffa and studied at the “Jonah the Prophet” elementary school. He graduated from the “Ort – Yad Yosef Shmuel Shapira” school for students and studied mechanical mechanics. He was a member of the Hanoar Haoved Vehalomed movement and loved sports – mainly soccer. By the time he was 9 years old, he had already played for the Maccabi Jaffa youth team and later played for the older team. He was an outstanding student, loved the profession and always came to school and often helped the teacher during the lesson. At the graduation exhibition of the vocational school, Yehuda presented a unique and spectacular model, which aroused great admiration. He was an intelligent and sensitive boy, cheerful and good-natured. His decency and friendly attitude served as an example to his friends, who admired him and loved him. Thanks to his qualities, he became one of the pillars of the class. When he was 15, he left for work, following his father’s death, and was the family’s sole breadwinner. He was also a devoted son to the family and tried to give his children a hand in the garage. Yehuda was drafted into the IDF at the beginning of November 1971, and thanks to his professional skills, he was assigned to the Ordnance Corps. His widowed mother tried to persuade him not to enlist, but Yehuda said that he had to fulfill his duty to the state, like any other boy of his age. Yehuda served as a mechanic at the base of the equipment and as always did his duty with devotion and loyalty. On 27 December 1972, Cpl. Yehuda was killed while serving in the Kiryat Shaul Military Cemetery, and in a letter of condolences to the family, his commander wrote: “Yehuda was loved by his classmates and in the unit in general, He was willing to contribute his knowledge and accumulated talents to the service of the Israel Defense Forces, and faithfully and devotedly he took upon himself tasks and performed them with understanding and diligence, and I saw him as a model soldier “
