Lela, Yaakov (Jacques)

Yaakov (Jacques), son of Frieda and Yosef Lela, was born on May 6, 1924 in the city of Aleppo, Syria, where he was orphaned from his father and learned in a Talmud Torah in the orphanage. In 1945 he made aliyah and lived near the northern border. He worked and for a short time he was a member of the Irgun. At the outbreak of the War of Independence, Yaakov forged the enlistment certificate so that he could join a combat unit. He participated in the conquest of Tarshiha and the battles of Ain Ghazal and Tira. On his last day of leave, he said, “I will continue to fight until I reach Syria and bring my family!” Yaakov fell in Shfaram when his car drove over a land mine on the 10th of Cheshvon, November 12, 1948. He was laid to rest at the Nachlat Yitzhak military cemetery. He left behind a wife and young daughter.