Malka, Yehuda

Yehuda, son of Miriam and Mordecai, was born on October 4, 1954. In Morocco, the family immigrated to Israel and settled in Moshav Gimzu in the Judean Lowland, where he studied at the Rabbi Maimon School in Petach Tikvah and began his studies But due to his love of the IDF and his desire to find a more interesting framework of life, he decided to study at the military boarding school of the “Reali” school in Haifa. At school, Yehuda was an outstanding student, and in the examinations he even proved that he was a gifted child. He was always serious and his approach to things was thorough, deep and responsible. He loved sports and music and had many records, which he listened to in his spare time. His sister, Rachel, said about him: “He was shy, pleasant, dedicated and responsible, loved by all his friends in his tall and noble stature, and in his sad sad smile. In 1966 the family moved out of the moshav immediately after the death of the father of the family. Yehuda was drafted into the Israel Defense Forces in early February 1973 and assigned to the Armored Corps, where he began his service with the right foot, and was considered an outstanding apprentice in his unit and received the appreciation of his commanders. During the Yom Kippur War, Yehuda served as a combat soldier on the southern front. On October 6, 1973, his platoon was ordered to break into the city of Kantara and to purge it of the enemy forces that invaded it, and during the movement towards the city, the force encountered an enemy ambush and attacked it. In the cemetery in Petach Tikvah and left behind four sisters and two brothers, who died of a heartbreak a month after the war, and was raised to the rank of corporal in a letter of condolence to the bereaved family: “Yehuda fought with courage and recognition of his mission” And his family and friends commemorated his name by holding a soccer derby in the neighborhood club, and a traveling trophy was named after him for playing table tennis.