Moldawski, Shmuel

Son of Ita and Yaakov was born in 1916 in Russia and immigrated with his family to Israel in 1921. His father was a rabbi in the Daughter of Galim neighborhood of Haifa and educated his son in the spirit of tradition and religion Shmuel graduated from Netzach Yisrael and moved to Jerusalem to study in the Beit Midrash For teachers “Mizrachi.” In 1934 he stopped his studies after completing fourth grade and began to work in the Government School for Young Criminals in Jerusalem and later in the Jewish Agency’s Kfar Avoda. He was a member of the Haganah and in the outbreak of the bloody riots of 1936-1939 he participated in the defense of Jerusalem and the environs and Ein HaShofet. Shmuel often debated religious questions and, as a result, moved away from religious tradition. After graduating, he worked as a teacher at Kibbutz Ayelet Hashahar. He was particularly interested in the problems of the retarded child, continued his studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and studied philosophy, and the theory of education himself. During the Second World War, he joined the British Navy. After three years of military service, he was released and went to study pedagogical psychology at the Rousseau Institute in Switzerland. Where he returned to religious life according to tradition. When he heard about the search and arrest by the Mandatory authorities in Palestine on the “Black Sabbath” (29.6.1946), he immediately returned to Israel. Upon his arrival, he went to work in Kibbutz Yavneh and later in the Chafetz Chaim group, but the framework of the group’s life did not match his profession, so he returned to Haifa for teaching work. After the liberation of Haifa, he demanded that he shall be sent to combat operations outside the city, and before he left his home for the last time, he replied to his family’s claims that “saving lives overrules Shabbat,” and added that he will not return until peace came in. Shmuel fell in a battle in Malkia on the 5th of Iyar 5708 (June 5, 1948.) His memorial was erected in the military cemetery on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem.