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Irgun man who rescued Begin from the British: "When they touched him, they felt that they were touching history"

At the age of 14, Yosef "Soso" Edrei forged his age so that he could enlist in the underground, and was later appointed guard of the organization's commander, when he arrived in Safed while fleeing the British.

During his long life he carried in his heart the memory of his brother who fell in the ranks of the Palmach, and he kept the heritage of its city of Safed faithful until his death at the age of 95.

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Eli Ashkenazi

Sunday, 05 December 2021, 07:33

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In the video: Yosef Soso Edrei (Photo: courtesy of the family)

Every Saturday, holiday and holiday, for decades, Yosef "Soso" Edrei would walk about forty minutes from his house in the southern neighborhood of Safed to the Abrich Synagogue in the heart of the city's old quarter.

The synagogue named after its founder about two hundred years ago, Rabbi Dov of Abrich, has become identified with the city's veterans.

Beyond being a house of prayer, the Mabrich synagogue became the base from which the "elders of Safed" worked to preserve the heritage of the Spanish community and the memory of the fighters for the city during the War of Independence, Menachem Begin and the gallows.

Edrei, with a special talent for storytelling and his thunderous voice, always concentrated people around him and he became one of the people most identified with Safed heritage conservation activities.

"A Zionist volcano that constantly emitted the heart of the righteousness of the road," defined it as Shuki Ohana, the mayor of Safed.

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Edrei to his wife with his friend Noam Buskila (Photo: courtesy of the family)

He was born in 1926 in Safed, to his parents Moshe and Leah Edrei.

The Edrei family's roots are rooted in the city from the second half of the 18th century.

Rabbi Moshe Adrei was one of the leaders of the Sephardic dedication in Safed, under whose responsibility there is also a synagogue at the tomb of Rabbi Shimon Bar-Yohai in Meron.

Joseph was the second child and had four brothers and sisters.

Like many children in the city, he also attended Alliance School, about ten years of schooling, after which he went out to help support the family.

At the age of 14, he forged his age to 16 so that he could enlist in the Irgun. All of Rabbi Moshe Edrei's sons were underground activists, but the ideological split that prevailed in the Jewish community, as well as in Safed itself, reached the family: Rafael (Rafi) - the eldest son and sisters Pnina and Rivka were active in the Haganah organization. Yosef and his brother, Achinoam, chose the Irgun.

Rafi was known as an excellent explorer and with rare courage.

In Safed, the story goes that on April 16, 1948, when the British left the city, he climbed a pole on the roof of a "central" hotel and waved a blue-and-white flag at it, while bullets were fired at him.

It is said that this sight strengthened the morale of the residents of the Jewish Quarter who were in severe distress.

He later assisted the Palmach forces that occupied the city. He later went down with the Palmach to fight in the Negev and was killed in battle there.

Edrei (left) (Photo: courtesy of the family)

Joseph told family and friends that the deepest pain he carried with him all his life was the fact that he did not separate from his brother. There was tension between the two at the time in the face of the animosity between the defense and the Irgun. Yosef's loyalty to the Irgun was unconditional. Due to his dedication, Shmuel Perl, the Irgun commander in the city, ordered him to be one of the bodyguards of the organization's commander, Menachem Begin, when he arrived in Safed. The Irgun against the British rule in Israel.

Nevertheless, Begin and his family, together with the Meridor family and other friends, arrived at the Pearl family's hotel in Safed, in what is now called "Gibushon".

British "police" officers suspected of underground activity at the hotel entered the dining room and arrested two young, tanned men who refused to identify themselves inside.

Various maps were also found in their room.

It turned out that the two were JNF surveyors. Begin later estimated that the "camouflage" of the family members saved him and his friends. After those moments of tension, his horse and friends fled Begin from the city and he went underground for four years.

Edrei at the memorial site for the Battle of Safed during the War of Independence (Photo: courtesy of the family)

Zeev Pearl, the son of Shmuel and former mayor of Safed, said that this story was famous in the city and "when people touched his horse they felt they were touching a historic moment." Later, Edrei himself escaped from the British and during one of the searches in the city, escaped on the roofs of the old city houses to Nahal Amud. When he arrived in Meron, he boarded a bus to Haifa with the identity of a rural Arab.

He also demonstrated his loyalty during the funerals of Irgun fighters who were executed by the British government in Acre Prison. ".

plot of graves held annually memorial service, which was a participant Menachem Begin. for Edrei and his colleagues it was time significantly memorial and a meeting with the revered leader. after the death of respect began Edri and his synagogue Abrits conduct annual event in memory of Prime Minister and leader Irgun.

"Safed was the center of his world"

The synagogue has symbolized for those veterans their hold on the city through the ages.

It is said that in the earthquake of 1837 that destroyed Safed and in which 1,700 residents of the city died, Rabbi Dov Mavrich called on worshipers in his beit midrash to gather around him and lie on the ground.

The structure did not collapse and the worshipers survived.

Many of the survivors left the ruined city, but the rabbi's loyalists responded to his call to stay and not to abandon even in times of depression.

This call symbolized for the generation of 1948 in Safed their continued hold on the place.

Every year, the days of remembrance for the earthquake victims, the 17 residents of the city who were killed in the events of 1929 and the 52 victims of the battles in the city in 1948, are also commemorated there.

Noam Buskila, who came to Safed 22 years ago 55 years from the moment he became a close friend. "Age does not matter, it is the soul that speaks and his horse was such a person and a common language was created between us," Busquila said.

Every week they would meet over a cup of coffee at the house of Yosef and his wife, Rachel Beit Beit Shaharur, also from the old families in Safed. Joseph and Rachel married 72 years ago. Roni Peled, who interviewed him for the documentary project The Autographers, said that he had a tumultuous life that included a Machles-type motorcycle and an addiction to action. "Unmarried" was said about him by the definition of the period but all this was true until he met Rachel. So he decided there were no more adventures and wildness and so it was. Edrei worked for decades at the KKL-JNF, initially as a driver and over the years he progressed to eight as supervisor of the entire Golan Heights. Among the projects he promoted was the establishment of the Jordan Park.

Alongside his work, he was involved in city life and a key activist in the Herut movement and later in the Likud.

Over the years, he was also awarded the title "Dear Safed".

Over the years, however, he did not want to be elected to official positions in the public and political field.

"Safed was the center of his world," said his son, Gil.

"It was important for him to preserve the memory of the fighters for Safed and the special heritage of the city. He was not a religious person, but he had respect for tradition and religion. He loved Safed where there was mutual respect and tolerance and it was difficult for him to see extremist processes," the son added.

His horse and Rachel had three children, two of whom live in the city and raise a tenth generation in Safed.

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