Yosef, Rachel
Batya and Dalia. She was born on 25.10.1956 in Kfar Zecharia, completed her studies at the elementary school in Moshav Srigim and studied for three years at the Even HaEzer High School in Moshav Naham, while she was in Gadna and together with her friends In marches and on trips around the country. Rachel was fond of poetry, often read poets’ books and even drew pen and wrote lyrical poems full of sorrow and emotion. Her diary attested to the level of writing and articulation. Rachel was recruited to the Israel Defense Forces in early December 1974. In basic training she acquired many companies thanks to her modesty and nobility, her kindness and her willingness to help all. At the end of her basic training, Rachel was placed in a parachuting school as a parachutist. She completed the course with honors. Rachel quickly joined the other folds and did her job, which was responsible for the satisfaction of her superiors. Her good name, her willingness to be helpful, and her agility were something of a good thing in the unit, and when they needed a nurse in the unit, they turned to her. “In fact, if I agreed to leave my department for a paramedics course, it was only because of the good she had and the good she could contribute to others – in this case, in the clinic.” Dr. Rutenberg, the clinic’s commander, recalls: “Rachel did not have a concept of ‘I finished my job, it has to be done by someone else.’ Every soldier who entered the clinic, at any time and at any hour, was treated the best and most devoted and often on the expense of the vacation, the rest … Rachel was not deterred from any kind of work, and never complained. With Rachel, everything was always accompanied by a smile of love and kindness, and I am sure that the tenderness and gentleness and the good word benefited the patients more than the medications they received. “On October 20, 1975, Rachel fell in the line of duty. The military cemetery on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem, leaving behind her parents, five sisters, and a brother in a letter of condolence to the family: “We, her commanders and friends, loved her. She had a nobility that radiated all over her environment … She was always full of joy, and glued all around her with grace and charm so much … her kindness and her willingness to help everyone remain a symbol. Her ear was attentive to every friend, patiently, tenderly, willing to give up everything she had for her friends. “Her friends named the garden of the clinic as the Rachel’s Garden.
