,אֵ-ל מָלֵא רַחֲמִים, שׁוכֵן בַּמְּרומִים, הַמְצֵא מְנוּחָה נְכונָה
,עַל כַּנְפֵי הַשְּׁכִינָה בְּמַעֲלות קְדושִׁים, טְהורִים וְגִבּורִים
כְּזֹהַר הָרָקִיעַ מַזְהִירִים, לְנִשְׁמות חַיָּלֵי צְבָא הֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל
Twito, Yosef Ya’akov
Joseph the son of Dina and Elazar. Born on August 11, 1971 in Jerusalem, brother to Uriel and Atira, until age six, he grew up in Givat Washington, went to kindergarten in Moshav Bnei Darom and moved to first grade at the Yavneh School. He studied at the “Tachkemoni” elementary school and was a member of the “Bnei Akiva” youth movement and from the second grade participated in the activities of the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel. “At the end of 12th grade, his family moved to Elkana, where he immediately joined his peers. He did not speak loshon hora, helped when he could and gave of himself. Everyone around him loved him. Joseph was a loyal friend and accepted every person as he was. Together with his friends from the “Yeshiva of the South,” he continued to maintain contact, even when they chose to follow other paths of his own. He continued his studies at the Ateret Cohanim Yeshiva in the Old City of Jerusalem for more than a year. He joined Givati on July 2, 1991, as part of the Karnei Shomron hesder yeshivas. After his military service he returned to the yeshiva to complete his Torah studies and academic studies for a teaching certificate. He saw the teaching as a mission and the study of Torah and its teaching as a right. One of his friends in the military service met him and his sister Rachel, and half a year later, the two married. After the wedding, Rachel and Yosef continued to live in Karnei Shomron. Five children were born to Rachel and Yosef: Yarden, Elinor, Nahal Elazar, Bat-Nadiv and Sher-Shalom. After completing his undergraduate studies in education, at the branch of the “College in Jerusalem” in Karnei Shomron, Yosef moved with his family to Itamar. He joined the community and quickly became one of the leaders in the area. He was elected as the head of the local secretariat and served as absorption coordinator and youth coordinator. After a short time he returned to dealing with security matters when he took on the military post of the security coordinator in Itamar. He saw his mission as an educator: he taught in the kindergarten Talmud Torah and at the elementary school in Itamar, and served as a first-grade teacher at the elementary school in Alon Moreh. In the last year of his life, he saw most of his educational activity in his role as a regular officer of the Shomron Council. He created a special relationship with boys and girls in distress who were expelled from the educational frameworks, invested in them with his energy and talent, and even fought in his home. In his way of life, he was a personal example of all his acquaintances, especially his students. Respect for parents was obvious to Joseph. As a child he always helped at home. When he grew up and was the father of children and his parents came to his home, he would travel with the children and wait for them at the entrance to the town to meet them. He was able to integrate Torah study and observance into daily life. Even during his military service, he made sure to set aside times for the Torah and took advantage of every free moment of study. Joseph was a very spiritual person, loved poetry and at one point studied Kabbalah. He practiced chassidut and celibacy, and radiated a light of joy, love and peace for everyone. As an expression of his love of peace, he called his little son, Sir Shalom. He had great tolerance and love for the people of Israel in all its diversity. He was devoted to the Land of Israel, loved to spill his talk at Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus, greatly hurt the condition of the Temple Mount and was involved in various activities to strengthen the Jewish hold on Samaria. In his capacity as security coordinator, he was often assigned to various missions and was in close contact with the army commanders in the area. He knew the Yishuv about its origins and its creators on its own, and often instructed the security forces that were summoned to operate there. Levi Shepetovitzky knew Yosef from a business cooperation between them – the distribution of organic fruits and vegetables they raised in Itamar: “It was precisely from this connection that I stood up for his excellent qualities, his warm and radiant personality, his devotion and closeness to his family,Both to the idea of settling the Land of Israel and its people. He could have lived relatively comfortably in the vicinity of his parents in Elkana, but chose to contribute his personal part in the expansion and consolidation effort and put a stake in Itamar, where he set up his home. He did not rest for a moment. He was always active and lively, did not reject things and wanted to do what he was asked to do quickly. He was content with little, and always saw the needs of others before his own needs. He knew his face that he was a smart, intelligent man. I will never forget Yossi’s great concern for me and the fear that he would steal my livelihood … He wanted to include his parents among my clients like the other residents of Elkana, even though he could transfer his products to his parents free of charge. “In this last year of his life, Yosef hesitated about continuing his work, on the one hand he wanted to be connected to nature, to agricultural activity and to establishing an agricultural farm with friends, while on the other he loved the people. The educational work with young students and their first steps, and in the end he combined the years, they built a goat pen and planned to make a living from organic milk, and he wanted to get more involved with youth. The situation with the help of his colleagues: “The truth is that I enjoyed it twice, for the first time from Telem Hand-friend with whom you can sharpen situations at an interesting angle, young, full of optimism. I loved the good emphasis of the student and his family out of innocence. Innocence of integrity, innocence of kindness! And a second time I enjoyed the fact that everything that was built in your heart was not needed to repeat. You were the sort of person who does not lose a drop. The Education Department and the whole council began to envy me for my new partner, full of charm and kindness. I was filled with pride that at various meetings they asked if you were my younger brother. Yes, you are my brother! … I cry for the partner and friend who left me alone. I’m crying for missing out on sophistry. … We will continue to add love between Jew and Jew, as you would greet with a warm and cordial peace each. You were a member of the regular officers’ training course and you were loved by everyone, and within a few hours you were part of the community and you could not feel that you had just joined the group. ” Joseph was commander of the emergency squad on the day of the attack in Itamar. He heard a volley of shots from the direction of the family house, and without hesitation he took his weapon, alerted the emergency squad and the army and ran to the next house. A terrorist entered the house and managed to kill the mother of the Shahbo family and three of her children. Joseph came first and strode to the touch to stop the killing. This was how he informed the members of the emergency squad in the exercises he had done with them, and so he did. He went into the yard and looked for a place from which he could enter the house. In the exchange of fire, Yosef was critically wounded in the head by the terrorist who had barricaded himself on the second floor. In his quick response, which fascinated the terrorist, he managed to prevent an even greater tragedy and saved the lives of others. First sergeant Yosef Twito fell in battle in Itamar on June 20, 2002. He was thirty-one years old when he fell. He was laid to rest in the military section of the Itamar cemetery. He left behind a wife – Rachel, five children: Yarden, Eleanor, Nachal-Elazar, Bat-Nadiv and Sar-Shalom; Father – Elazar, mother – Dinah, brother – Uriel and sister – petition. On the gravestone, the family regretted: “The light of your face radiated warmth and love, in you grace and truth met, justice and peace kissed.” On the 30th anniversary of his downfall his daughters told him: “When Dad came out we did not worry, Dad always went out to help the others and came back. His eldest daughter was eight years old at the time of the attack and his baby son was only five months old. His mother Dina eulogized him: “The day after the funeral I caught a heartAs a hero who was saved to defend his settlement from a bitter and reckless enemy, as a Jewish soldier who gave his life to the sanctification of God, the people and the land. After all, you were recruited into this army, sometimes in passive recruitment and in need of an active mobilization. “In the introduction of a Torah scroll to his soul, Elazar said to his father:” In prayer we mention the resurrection of the dead: “You are a hero to the world of God. … and sustains his faith in two earthly creatures … a king who kills and resurrects … “This is probably a blessing for the resurrection of the dead in general, but it seems to me that there are nevertheless different degrees among the dead mentioned in it. At the beginning of the berakha we are dealing with the dead, and then we are dealing with the earthly characteristics that await the “faith” of God … This is apparently meant to be the conclusion of the right of David and his wife, who lived their lives and died in regular death. We are talking about those who “die and die,” that is, those who did not die on their regular day, who did not die in ordinary death, but those who God Himself had slain, it seems to me that this refers to all those Jews who have died over the generations for Kiddush Hashem … “In these days, those who sacrifice their lives to die for the defense of the people and the land are undoubtedly the sanctifiers of God … Joseph sanctified God in His death for the protection of His habitation, and he joins the line of the holy temples of all generations … All those who died for the growth of our salvation in Israel. ” After his death, his wife Rachel received a certificate of appreciation given by the division commander, Brig. Gen. Yitzhak Gershon (Jerry), about Yosef’s activities. Where he wrote: “Demonstrated devotion to the mission with the utmost courage, courage and endless dedication to the defense of the Yishuv.” In the eyes of his family, Yosef was always a soldier: a soldier in the field of education, a soldier in various charitable missions and a soldier in the plain sense: “Our Yosef sanctified the name of God in his death, but more than that he sanctified the name of God in his life. And sometimes it seems that Joseph’s heroism in his life – great was his heroism in his death, he lived a life of faith and total devotion to the Lord of the Universe and to Israel and his sons. Uriel, his older brother, gave a eulogy to the memory of his brethren: “My little brother, Joseph, how did the mighty men fall and lose the vessels of war?” You were the instruments of war of the Master of the Universe. A few days ago you told me about a meeting with a senior army officer in which you asked him what he was doing so that the incident that happened at the ‘Darts’ meeting would not happen again. If you could, you would stand up and say to the prime minister: ‘Invite the chief of staff today and say to him in simple terms: Stop this killing every time. Hi. I will never forget the room we shared together for two decades, you and I, the soccer games we played together – you, me and Lior, our stamp collection , Our arguments. I will not forget how to take me to my beach. How you carried me on your shoulders that carry much more than one bride today. How you were happy every time you succeeded in bringing people to Itamar; Brigadier General Yitzhak Gershon (Jerry), commander of the Judea and Samaria Division (Judea and Samaria), knew Yosef personally: “The commanders of the sector knew him well and knew that there was someone to rely on.” Yosef is considered one of the commanders of the classrooms Joseph’s reaction, his activity that night, the initiative, the striving for touch, the adherence to the mission, the personal example and the exemplary manner that enabled him to express himself in the face of an enemy did not surprise us, and he saved some members of his family “He said.The students of Yeshivat Arutzim eulogized Yosef, who was a guide in their yeshivah: “You did not spare any effort and volunteered for every mission … You lived a life of the Land of Israel, a life that has gentleness on the one hand and power on the other. You were very involved in your work, you were very attentive, you listened to everyone, you tried to help, the command of the emergency squad, and the activities of the youth in the Yishuv were only a few of the public issues in which you gave a hand. In every picture you are seen smiling. And so you were, Yosef, welcoming everyone. In every positive activity in the routine, and in any unusual event you would lead. And even when the emergency squad was called out, you went out of your job and headed. … before our eyes will be his image, a symbol of the power of life and devotion. The love of the people of Israel and the land of Israel. “Many commemoration activities are held in memory of Yosef, including: On the first anniversary of the fall, the road was named after him from the Tapuach junction to Shekhem -” Derech Yosef. ” The members of the unit decided to memorialize him in holy books that would serve as a mobile library wherever he went to reserve duty, and at the Elon Moreh school where he taught, they called the library after him, and his friend David Itzik founded the Youth Empowerment Center in Itamar. Is called “the rural point” and its goal is to serve as an empowerment center for youth through agriculture and nature – the two things that were in Yosef’s soul “The village point. The Joseph Ya’akov Twito Youth Empowerment Center The man of Itamar, who tied his fate, and connected us all to the love and beauty of this land. “