Lebanon, Erez
Erez, son of Simcha and Benayahu, was born on 16 October 1951 in Kibbutz Gadot. Since he was the only child in the kibbutz, his parents left the kibbutz and moved to Kibbutz Palmachim when he was one year old. Where he attended elementary school and high school. Erez was a good student. His teacher says that he “excelled in his studies, without the ambition to stand out too much and with much grace.” He devoted time and effort to learning. His main concern was the human psyche, character, and customs. In his last year he wrote a great treatise on “Education in the Holocaust.” He was preparing to study psychology at the university. Erez had a lot of hobbies. During the days he visited the kindergarten, he learned to play chess and since then he has been drawn to the game and he has persisted and deepened it. He was one of the members of the chess club in Rishon Letzion, and since then he has played for the youth team of Rishon LeZion for twelve years. His style was very scheming and very close. His passion for chess was great. Even during his military service, he always carried a chess box, and at every opportunity he had, he played in simultaneous competitions and in secret games. Erez loved the sea. He was a member of the Palmachim Gymnasium and towards the end of his studies he participated in a sailing trip to the Greek Islands, where he took courses in boat training. He loved music and admired the songs of Chava Alberstein. He was very fond of animals and had a dog that treated him with great devotion. Erez was self-possessed, resourceful, intelligent and with a strong will. Once he said to his friend: “I want to starve for bread, to sleep on a bench, so that I can create the shape of my life.” In spite of its purposeful and practical nature, it contained a poetic soul of a secret-poetry reader under this cover, and it burned in it a strong desire to experience, to feel, and to fully experience. He had a sense of humor. He often joked and smiled, and sometimes he was mischief. There was a slight degree of arrogance in him, which stemmed from self-confidence and leadership. He loved his family very much and gave his parents great respect. Erez was drafted into the Israel Defense Forces in early November 1970. After completing basic training, he began his service as a successful trainee in an aviation course, but during one of the routine tests, he was found to have a slight defect in his health and was volunteered for the Armored Corps. Tanks, a basic course for officers and a course for armored officers, and one of his commanders wrote in his opinion: “A young officer with great confidence.” During the Yom Kippur War, Erez took part in the battle against the Egyptians in the southern sector on the banks of the Suez Canal. (6 October 1973) Erez fell in a battle north of the “Kfar” outpost. He was wounded in the chest by powerful anti-tank fire, which was shot by Egyptian infantry soldiers who crossed the Suez Canal and died on his way to the DCO and was brought to rest in the Palmachim cemetery. In his letter of condolence to the bereaved family, his commander wrote: “Erez was an outstanding officer, quiet and responsible, and led his soldiers in peace and safety.” Every year on Sukkot, Erez’s birthday is held in memory of the children’s chess championship. Twenty-two cedars, the number of years of Erez in his fall, his parents and his kibbutz published a pamphlet in his memory, including things about him, letters, poems and photographs.
