Shmulik Weiss

Shmulik’s father immigrated to Israel from Romania, after most of his extended family perished in the Holocaust. Shmulik grew up in a modest home. From a young age he showed a keen interest in cars and other motorized vehicles. He and his friend Shlomo had driven mopeds until Shmulik’s moped was stolen, much to his parents’ relief.

Shmulik enlisted in the Nahal paratroopers (his commander was Benny Gantz) and joined the ‘Chai-Ad’ Nahal unit, which settled in Kibbutz Gilgal in the Jordan Valley. It was there that he met Yehudit. They became a couple, married and had their eldest daughter, Hagar. When Hagar was about one year old, Shmulik and Yehudit left Gilgal and moved to Kibbutz Erez, in the northern Negev region of Sha’ar Hanegev. During this period, Asaf was born, and the family was joined by Avishai, Yehudit’s younger brother. Shmulik worked in the fields with the grain crops, but his dream was to work in the garage as a car mechanic. Kibbutz Erez didn’t respond positively to his requests for a transfer, and Shmulik being Shmulik, stubborn, decisive, and very practical, decided to leave. Yehudit was a kindergarten teacher, a highly sought after profession in the kibbutzim, and the family moved to Kibbutz Be’eri.

After living on Be’eri for two years as hired employees, they became kibbutz members. As the years went by, Omer, Daniel and Ohad were born. In Be’eri Shmulik’s dream came true, and for many years he worked in and managed the kibbutz garage. He loved his work and was always prepared to drop everything whenever someone needed a repair, or help with anything to do with cars. He instilled his passion for all motor vehicles in his children. When they were young, he put them on quadbikes, then on buggies, and eventually they drove jeeps.

Shmulik loved taking things apart and reassembling them, welding, cutting and painting them, and taught his children to do the same. He was a collector of old vehicles that he dreamt of renovating one day when he retired. Shmulik’s scrap heap of old cars was his treasure, and no-one was allowed to touch it.

Shmulik was highly inquisitive and enjoyed researching and investigating things. He had many hobbies and pursuits. There was always music playing at full volume in Shmulik and Yehudit’s home. Though he had wanted to learn, he didn’t play any instruments himself, but he collected musical instruments and invested in the most sophisticated audio systems available. There was a piano and other musical instruments in the house, and all of the children were very musical.

Shmulik dared to dream, and even if those dreams did not always come true, they did move something in the universe, created fertile ground for things to happen. Often, it was his children who made his dreams turn into reality. He bought a guitar because he wanted to learn to play - and then Asaf started to play it, and Daniel followed on. This was the way many other things started too, like soldering jewelry, baking yeast dough, and making pizza. He had recently wanted to start woodcarving. He was also an excellent photographer, and always had sophisticated photographic equipment. He had a good eye, and quickly became the chief family photographer, so trips are remembered by everyone through Shmulik’s eyes.

Shmulik and Yehudit loved the theatre. They had season tickets to the Cameri, Habima and Beit Lessin theatres, and every two to three weeks they went to a play and spent time with friends. When the play was good, they would later buy tickets for the whole family.

Shmulik had a huge heart. He was funny, sociable, loved people and animals, loved by everyone who met him, from the very first moment. He was always ready to help, to lend a hand, to volunteer for any task at any time of day or night. Shmulik never said “no”. He never hurt anyone, never raised his voice, knew how to speak eye-to-eye with everyone and did everything to make sure that everyone around him was happy. This was also how he educated his children, to be good people, without many words. Shmulik loved people and knew how to cultivate relationships with family and friends, including friends from his schooldays. He was the “glue” that held people together. The couple belonged to several groups who traveled together on trips within Israel and abroad. The friendships and togetherness were more important to him than the trips themselves. In his youth he went hiking, and then toured the countryside on his quadbike and Jeep. He loved tackling the terrain. In recent years he joined cycling trips in Israel and abroad and had participated with his group of friends in bicycle trips along the Danube and the Rhine.

Shmulik was a father and grandfather who was exceptionally involved in the lives of his family. Shmulik and Yehudit were blessed with five grandchildren: Amit, Hadar, Hoshen, Aviv and Kfir. He connected with his grandchildren through their shared activities – playing on the swings, jeep rides, taking them for walks in their strollers until they fell asleep. Yehudit and Shmulik were very much present in their family’s lives, playing central roles, always there to help, offer support and advice on every matter. Shmulik was also a devoted caregiver for his mother, driving her wherever she needed and taking care of her with endless patience. Shmulik and Yehudit’s relationship was full of love, appreciation, respect and acceptance. Shmulik loved to buy her gifts and jewelry - and was as tenderhearted as he was stubborn. Their relationship is an inspiration. They did everything together; it was impossible to separate them. They joined forces to help every friend and family member whenever they were in difficulty, with exceptional dedication. They were a “unit of giving”. Their home was always full of people they took under their wings, warmly and generously – kibbutz employees, female soldiers and others.

Shmulik was a “mensch”, honest and direct to the extreme. Authentic, with nothing fake about him. Everyone knew that with Shmulik there was no posturing or pretense. He also didn’t tolerate dishonesty in other people, but if he encountered it, he walked away, without confronting or hurting anyone; he respected everyone. He wasn’t a big talker. He listened without interrupting, without interfering, just listening. He expressed his passions and his personality through movement, short, focused questions and mainly through action. Shmulik was a kibbutznik through and through, and a Zionist in every bone in his body. He believed in settling the land and he believed in the Land of Israel.

Shmulik loved Israel, he loved Be’eri, and was murdered while fighting for Be’eri. Be’eri loved and still loves Shmulik in return.

May his memory be a blessing.