Rubinstein, Yitzhak

Son of Rivka and Herzl, was born in March 1913 in Ilesko, Galicia. In his youth, he joined the Hashomer Hatzair movement and was one of its activists and devotees. In April 1938 he immigrated to Israel. For several years he was on Kibbutz Ma’abarot, from where he was recruited to the Coast Guard in Netanya. He called Kibbutz Mizpe Hayam and then moved to settle in Yad Mordechai. He was a man of ideas and work and a book lover. Yitzhak devoted himself to working in the vegetable industry and was keen to add his opinion to the improvement of the industry. Took over the management of the meteorological station at the site, which was established to investigate the climatic conditions in the area, in order to derive useful information for the agriculture, especially its industry. Devoted the Arabs to social, cultural and political activities, and invested a great deal of energy in publishing the Kibbutz newsletter. In the winter months of 1948, during the War of Independence, when newspapers did not arrive near Mordekhai because of the disconnection on the roads, he listened to the news on the radio at night, When they were forced to leave the area, he made sure that the wounded were evacuated first and on the way he carried a wounded member of the Palmach on a stretcher. When the fire of the Egyptian and armored cannons increased, he could no longer reach the wounded man. Yitzhak and another friend, Leibke Schaffer, remained with him and were killed together with the wounded on the 24.5.1948. A monument in his memory was erected in the military cemetery on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem. This fallen hero is a “maklan” – a hero whose burial place is unknown.