Pinsky, Yosef

Son of Zvi and Rivka, one of the founders of Kibbutz Gvat. He was born on August 5, 1930 in Pinsk, Poland, when his parents were on a mission to collect them. But Joseph was only a few moons when his parents returned to their homes. While still in the 11th grade in the kibbutz, he belonged to the Palmach and carried out various tasks with the Hagana. As a child and youth, he witnessed the bloody events, the world war and the storms of the struggle, all of which made a difference, to the extent that the outbreak of the War of Independence, before he finished his studies, went into battle. He took part in several difficult battles – in front of the tank breaking into Degania, in the jeep battalion in the streets of Lod and in Ramle – and he sees death before his eyes when his infantile views fall on him. During the fighting, a special class was established at Kibbutz Hameuhad for those boys who were forced to stop their studies at the outbreak of the war. Yosef continued to buy Torah – first at the Ruppin Agricultural Academy and later at Gvat herself. But even when the studies were over, he was not allowed to sit in peace, because he was called for educational action in the youth. For two and a half years he served as a counselor at the Hanoar Haoved branch in the Borochov neighborhood. Afterward, he became a member of the Hakibbutz Hameuchad youth center and began to set up youth groups in the kibbutz settlements. At Gvat herself she taught at the school, dealt with a nucleus of new immigrants, and so on. He did not give up physical work and went on to the cowshed, and soon became one of its best employees. But he was not only a man of action, but also a man of thought and emotion – when his fruit testifies to the “inside”, the “up” and the agriculture journal. Upon the outbreak of the Sinai Campaign, he was called back to service and a few days later, on the 29th of Mershvan, November 3, 1956, he fell in battle. He was buried in Eilat and on the 30th of Shvat 5718 (30.1.1958) was transferred to his eternal resting place on his kibbutz, and on the 30th anniversary of his death the kibbutz published a booklet in his memory.