Back to New Items With great sorrow we announce the petirah of our forever devoted manager of laundry, Ghandi, Meir ben Perel Gintzig. Ghandi was buried on Nov. 6th in the land that he fought for and loved so much. Gandhi, who passed away at age 74, grew up in Krakow. During the years of the Holocaust his parents were taken away by the Germans and killed in front of his eyes. Gandhi managed to survive different forms of concentration camps, including Auschwitz for a few months, and came to Israel at age 15. He joined Tzahal and at age 17 fought in the War of Independence. During the fighting Gandhi was part of a unit that captured the neighborhood of Katamon in Yerushalayim. In 1950 Gandhi was placed on Kibbutz Chafetz Chaim as part of the Nachal program which combined army service with work on a kibbutz. In 1951, upon finishing his army service Gandhi joined the first settlers of Kibbutz Sha'alvim. At the time of Gandhi's initial arrival Sha'alvim was made up of three tents, 1) "Ohel Banim" with 14 men, 2) "Ohel Banot" with 9 woman and 3) a Cheder Ochel tent. It seems that Gandhi's incredible work ethic began already back then. The well known Rav of Kibbutz Chaim, Rav Kalman Kahana Zatz"l, knew Gandhi well from his work on Chafetz Chaim and Rav Kahana's visits to Sha'alvim. In 1956 Rav Kalman Kahana commented that if someone wants to learn what true hasmada is they should go to Gandhi. How did he get the name Ghandi? Also appropriate for these days. In Purim of 1957 Yakov Gintzig came to the mesibat Purim dressed up as the Indian philosopher Gandhi and since then the name "Gandhi" stuck. In 1990 Gandhi married Grasia Amar who was also amongst the founders of Kibbutz Sha'alvim. Finally, we'll mantion that within the framework of Daf Yomi Gandhi completed Sha"s twice! After many months of illness Ghandi was niftar on 4 Cheshvan 5766. Yehi zichro baruch.
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