Every morning at the cemetery in Kadima-Zoran in central Israel, as you go down the stairs, on the right side, it is impossible not to notice him. Yaakov Lubinevsky moves slowly using his scooter together with his caregiver Anna. He comes here every day to visit the grave of his late wife, Mazel. In recent months, he has also been visiting the graves of the late Staff Sergeant Yaron Shay and Staff Sergeant Ofek Russo.
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Holocaust survivor Yaakov Lubinevsky, 99, visits the graves of the late Staff Sgt. Yaron Shay and Staff Sergeant Ofek Russo, who fell in Hamas attack
(Photo: Yair Sagi)
"Two years ago I lost my wife, Mazal, at the age of 93. I come here and I tell her what's going on in our family, what's going on in the country, sit with her as long as necessary, water the flowers until Anna tells me that we have to move," he says.
Yaakov is a veteran resident of Kadima-Zoran, small in stature, still lucid. He worked for years as a forest ranger. In recent months, he has also moved between the graves of the two IDF soldiers who were killed at the beginning of the war.
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"In the beginning, it was just the grave of Yaron, who served in the Nahal reconnaissance unit and was killed on the first day of the war defending Kerem Shalom. He is the son of former government minister Izhar Shay, an amazing person in my eyes. The day after Yaron was killed, another hero warrior, Ofek Russo, who fell in Kibbutz Be'eri, was buried. Both were 21 years old, at the beginning of their careers, young men who went to war and never returned," he says.
Yaakov describes his daily routine. "The first thing I do every morning after I visit my wife's grave is to come here, to the military section. I water the pots next to the two graves of the heroes, arrange the pictures if they fell in the wind, arrange the stones, so that everything remains as it is. Even if one of the beer bottles on Yaron's grave falls, I of course make sure to put it back in place."
"It's a terrible situation for the families, for the friends," Yaakov says, "I'm here all the time, taking care of them as if they were my sons. I 'adopted' these two fallen soldiers' graves. We must be here, helping their families. The pain is great, but life must go on. I will make sure to tell everyone who Yaron and Ofek were."
We move along the cemetery paths. Yaakov says he has five children, nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. "I try to encourage the families of the fallen," he says, "I want to help them start living a little, after all, their lives were completely shattered after the terrible disaster. I say that there is a point in getting up in the morning, that there is a point in life. You can be proud of your sons, in the way you taught them to be heroes, young fighters who fell in defense of the country. I am proud to talk about these two soldiers. Look at how many photos their friends have arranged here, they are greatly appreciated."
Former minister Izhar Shay praised Lubinevsky for his moving tribute over the weekend in a social media post. "He gives us the flavor of life. His name is Yaakov. The first time we met him was the day after the funeral. We came to Yaron, and Yaakov was there, crying over the fresh grave of a soldier, a hero he never knew. 'I'll always be here, every day, I'll clean the grave, I'll bring him flowers, always, he deserves it,' he promised us," Shay wrote.
"A day later, our neighbor Ofek Russo, the hero soldier who fell in Be'eri, was buried next to Yaron. Yaakov also added him to his personal commitment. We meet him from time to time at the cemetery. His wife was buried in the civilian section, maybe 50 yards away from Yaron and Ofek. He visits her every morning. And after he is with her, he makes his way to them, with much difficulty but he doesn't give up, makes the effort, comes to our heroes and cleans their gravestones.
"Yaakov is a Holocaust survivor. He lost his entire family in the inferno and arrived in Israel alone after his entire world fell apart. And here he somehow managed to pull himself up, marry and start a family. And live a full life, maybe even a happy one. He knows the price and the horror of life. And he told us the very first time we met: 'It hurts terribly, the most painful thing in the world. But know that there is a reason to live, there is something for your Yaron and for you, always remember, there is a reason to live.'"