Krishavsky, Dr. Gershon-Yitzhak

Yitzhak, son of Rachel Leah and Chaim Yaakov, was born in the city of Yekaterinoslav, Ukraine in 1868 and was educated by the best teachers in his city, first in the cheder and later in the yeshiva. In 1890, Gershon emigrated to Eretz Israel and joined his father, who was a member of the Na’alei Tzion Poltava Association. He had immigrated to Israel a year before. Gershon worked in his profession in the first moshavot – Petach Tikva, Rishon LeTzion and Ekron. After his marriage to Batya Hirschfeld and the birth of his daughter, he fulfilled his dream and went to study medicine at the University of Strasbourg, where he specialized in surgery at the University of Palermo and on his way back to Israel he was examined in Constantinople. He was twice elected chairman of the Hebrew Speaking Physicians Association. He was also a member of a “clear language” for the dissemination of the Hebrew language in Jerusalem. In 1902, Dr. Krishavsky was called to fill his brother’s place as a good doctor to the governor of the Egyptian Sultan, and he returned to Israel after the death of his wife Batya (from tuberculosis). He married Hannah and served first as a private doctor in Jerusalem and later as a doctor in Petach Tikvah. In the First World War Dr. Krishavsky was recruited to the Turkish army and was appointed as a physician at the Infectious Disease Hospital in Jerusalem. At the beginning of March 1916 he was stung by a louse carrying a type of disease. His fever was very high and to cool him they lay him on a cold stone floor in the hospital. He developed severe pneumonia and on 29 Adar II, 3.4.1916, Dr. Krishavsky died and was brought to eternal rest in the Chabad section of the cemetery on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. He left a wife, three daughters and four sons. His estate left many scientific works written in German. His letters were collected by his grandson Gershon Gera and printed in the book Hemdat Avot. His life history and lines for his character were published in the book “Encyclopedia of Pioneers and Builders.”