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Vaknin, Yair-Yehuda

Vaknin, Yair-Yehuda


Son of Moshe and Sarah. He was born on November 13, 1949 in Jerusalem. He was from an extended family. When he moved from Jerusalem to Petah Tikva, he began studying at the “Nir Etzion” State School and then went to study at Netzach Israel where he completed his studies but due to his family’s financial situation, Yair was unable to continue his studies and was forced to do any work, He was still young, and when he enlisted in the IDF, he did not come, but he envied his older friends who were already wearing army uniform – and at the outbreak of the Six-Day War, Yair did not find Manoah himself. When he went to the recruitment office they did not accept him because of his age, but in the meantime the war was at the gate, and with all his Lev he wanted to serve. Upon returning to the recruitment office, he was told that they would not recruit a young man without the parents’ permission. Then Yair got up and went to Jerusalem because he had heard of his comrades serving in the army among the paratroopers. Although the army was not drafted, he volunteered for help at the Jerusalem hospital, where wounded soldiers were evacuated to the front. He stayed there for days and nights, not restless, but when he returned to his parents’ hut, he was a different person. The days he spent in Jerusalem with the victims of the fighting in helping them gave their mark. Yair was religious, observant, and went the way he was instructed by the religious schools of Nir Etzion and Netzach Yisrael. When he sat at home, he used to read psalms with his sister and on Shabbat nights he would also come to the Bnei Akiva club in Petah Tikva. He also maintained contact with this movement later on when he joined the Scouts movement. Among Bnei Akiva members was his friends and a core of these members who continued his career when he enlisted in a parachuted Nahal unit, which was in July 1967. The army was not able to hold on Mount Gilboa, He was meticulous in saying “Selichot” throughout the month of Elul and during the rest of the year he was in the synagogue or in the weekly Torah portion, So he always made sure that there was an order in the synagogue and in the Ark of the Holy Books A few days before he fell, he visited his parents’ hut and saw all his family members, and on the 25th of Shevat, 5728 (February 24, 1968), the news was received that Yair had fallen in the Gilboa Brigade. He was laid to rest in the military cemetery in Kiryat Shaul.

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