The funeral motorcade of beloved Ort Pelech Boys School principal Sgt.-Maj. (res.) Yossi Hershkovitz made its way from his home in Gush Etzion’s Gevaot community to the school in Jerusalem, his other home, where hundreds of local residents, parents, and students lined the street, holding Israeli flags and singing, “Am Yisrael Chai” and “Hatikvah,” as it stopped along its way to Mount Herzl Military Cemetery.
“We are not used to coming to school and not seeing our principal at the gate, greeting us in the morning,” said Gilad Barchad, 13, who had come with his mother, Shoshi, and older sister, a soldier, to pay his last respects. “The principal and I were very close. We would speak about almost everything. He always listened to us and supported us and was very, very fun.”
Shoshi Barchad said it had been difficult to have to tell her son that his school principal had been killed in battle in Gaza.
“Yossi was very special,” she said. “He saw a student was having difficulty and needed help. We believe in the Creator of the universe and believe everything he does is for the good. I told my son that when we read psalms, we connect to the spirituality of that person, and we take that and grow with that.”
One parent, Dr. Brendon Stewart Friedman, said Hershkovitz had been “largely influential” in the development of his son’s Zionism and social responsibility, adding that his son is now serving in the army.
“Yossi was one person who did not fit the mold of a principal,” he said. “He greeted the students face-to-face. He didn’t care about grades; he cared about ‘menshkite.’ The kids loved him. We as parents owe a great debt of gratitude to him.”
The Hershkovitz family exited their car and walked around the crowd as they paid tribute to their husband and father.
Describing Hershkovitz as an “excellent principal,” Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Yosi Havilio, who had worked with Hershkovitz in the municipality, said he had come to support the family, as he has done for all of the fallen soldiers from Jerusalem.
One of five killed by booby-traps
Hershkovitz was among the five reservists killed in Gaza on Sunday at the entrance of a booby-trapped tunnel.
The father of five was known for his devotion to his students, his passion as an educator, and his strong Zionist ideals. Living in Gevaot, which integrates people with special needs directly into the community, was also a special choice he made, said Hershkovitz’s friend and colleague Shalom Weil said.
“Yossi believed in the Jewish People, in the State of Israel,” he said. “There was no confusion there.”
Weil, the previous principal of Pelech School who hired Hershkovitz, said: “He read the Torah four times a week to touch base with what was important in life and what was not.”
After the family learned of his death, Weil went to be with them and then returned to the school to look for a key that was needed. When he opened a closet, he discovered Hershkovitz’s army uniform neatly folded and on top of a Bible.
“You can’t catch him unprepared,” Weil said. “He knows exactly where the People of Israel are. He was very concerned about the political and social situation, and we had long discussions. He is a person whom I had many disagreements with and a strong friendship with and a strong appreciation for.”
Hershkovitz might have had ideological disagreements with some of the soldiers in his unit, but he always referred to them as brothers, he said.
“That was something big in his life,” Weil said. “There are many details we may disagree on, but in the big picture, we should all be together. The big picture was important.”
Hershkovitz was as devoted to his wife, Hadas, and his children as he was to his students, he said.
“He truly loved his wife,” Weil said. “I learned about how to be a father and how to be a spouse from him.”
Hershkovitz quickly became an indelible part of the Pelech School family, quickly moving from teacher to principal,” he said.
“His rules were quite clear, and nobody dared misbehave when he was walking the corridors or in the playground. And yet, they knew that if they approached him with a request, he would melt in an instant and do everything in his power to help them.”
“He was an impressive leader and very approachable,” Weil said. “He knew how to speak to people, and it didn’t matter if you were a student, mayor, or educator. He would look you straight in the eye and talk clearly and emotionally. His inner soul was very impactful.”
Hershkovitz was a very creative person and designed numerous pedagogical programs, including the Me’orav Yerushalmi program, an interdisciplinary learning program combining religious and secular studies, which has since been duplicated in numerous schools, he said.
Hershkovitz also loved to play his violin at the school, and on Fridays and when they studied Torah, they often played together with nigunim, he added.
“He was a strong, solid fellow, but when he played the violin, his whole soul peaked out from his heart,” Weil said. “Yet he was a true warrior, and he fell and died as a warrior.”