Rodai, Chaltziel (Chalutzi)

Son of Chana and Chaim, members of the illegal He – Chaluts movement in the USSR. He was born in Moscow, capital of the Soviet Union, on September 23, 1930. His name was given as a symbol and memory because he was one of the first sons to be born to members of the Zionist pioneering movement in Moscow and his grandfather was Rabbi Yitzhak Halperin of Stary. Two weeks after his birth he immigrated to Israel with his mother, who was granted an immigration permit, and in the meantime, news of the father’s arrest in Russia, together with his mother’s brother, was received because of their Zionist activity. During the mother’s working hours, the boy spent time in the Natan Strauss children’s home and was very fond of all his caretakers, and in 1934 the father managed to reach Israel and join the family. He was very knowledgeable about the life of the plants. The division of the country into two states and the outbreak of the War of Independence followed, enlisted as a member of the Palmach to defend the Yishuv and served in the Yiftach Brigade. From a distance he prepared his parents gradually for everything that might happen and gave a faithful expression of his view of the situation and his natural and simple willingness to fight for the people and its independence. He participated in battles in Mishmar Ha’emek, Zar’in, Akko and Safed. He returned to Malkia to block the road to an enemy who had tried to invade Lebanon for May 15. Chaltziel fell in battle with several other young heroes on 6 Iyar, May 15, 1948. He was brought to eternal rest in a mass grave at Kibbutz Maoz Haim. His memory was included in the booklet “In Memory of the Martyrs of Be’er Tuvia”.