Finkelstein, Elazar

He was born in Warsaw, the capital of Poland, and was active in the Po’alei Zion party in Warsaw, which was active in the underground against the Czarist authorities. He stood out in his devotion and his activism: he organized a kitchen for workers during a general strike, arranged for food for a friend in a prison, put in weapons for self-defense, and kept illegal literature. When one hundred and six members of Poalei Zion were imprisoned in Warsaw by the Russian police, he maintained constant contact with them by correspondence. Nevertheless, he did not find satisfaction in the Diaspora. In 1907 he immigrated to Eretz Israel and worked in the moshavot of Judea. He also showed devotion and diligence in his work in Israel. At first he worked in Rechovot and also arranged work for the local workers. Afterward he joined Hashomer as a critic of the guards and soon became fond of the younger guards, taking care of them, for which they affectionately called him “Uncle Lazer.” Later, when he purchased an Arab mare, he joined the “Hashomer” organization. At the same time, he particularly considered the work of the land. “We can not be a nation without land workers … The guards can not be only fighters … We came to this land not only to live in it, but also to work and this duty rests with the guards who are prepared to give their lives on every inch of land.” He was one of the enthusiastic supporters of settlement at the Karkur guards’ conference, where a decision was finally made to settle in Tel Adashim. He himself was for a period of time among the settlers of Tel Adash and then went to watch Ben-Shemen when the Jews who were expelled from Jaffa. The security situation in Ben-Shemen was then extremely difficult. Hundreds of Arabs and Turks, hungry, armed deserters, roamed around and robbed everything they could find. Elazar continued to guard at night, with his mare, who did not leave him at all times. One Saturday night, when he was guarding a field of hay, a young Arab shepherd brought a cattle to graze in the field and then shot him in the stomach. His friends passed him on a cart to Shaare Zedek hospital in Jerusalem, where he died of blood poisoning after severe suffering, on 17 Nisan, 20 April 1916. He was immortalized in the file “Hashomer” and in “Dreamers and Warriors.”