Travel diary: Ido and Elia Hershkowitz run a marathon in memory of their brother Yossi/photo: Ido Hershkowitz, editing: Nir Chen
"On Friday I went for a long run of 23 km," recalled Ido Hershkovitz on the morning of November 10, about three months ago. "It was training for a marathon that my little brother Elia convinced me to run with him.
The parents came that day to stay with me on Saturday, and at 8 in the evening, after the meal, I spilled and went to bed.
At 10 my wife Adi woke me up.
'Ido, get up, there are soldiers in the living room,' she said.
I didn't understand that much in the first second, but when I went out to the living room and saw the three informants, I immediately understood that my older brother Yossi had been killed.
My parents were still in the room, and I informed them."
The late Major General Yossi Hershkowitz was the revered headmaster of the Ort Plech High School for boys in Jerusalem. On Black Shabbat he was called into the reserves, and on the 34th day of the war he fell in the north of the Gaza Strip from an IED explosion A blow that hit him and three of his friends when they went out to check a tunnel shaft that was discovered near a mosque and turned out to be trapped. He left behind a father and mother, a wife, five children and five brothers - the two youngest of whom fulfilled a dream three days ago; Ido and Alia completed their first marathon in the Dead Sea ( "And the last one," Ido promises.) They wore shirts bearing their brother's name, choked with tears along the route - and allowed themselves to break up in each other's arms only after they crossed the finish line, and gave the medals to the father and mother who came to cheer and accompany them.
The cry that released everything.
Elia (right) and Ido with mother Rochama and father Jacob, at the finish line/courtesy of the family, Nili Inbari-Kaufman
"On Saturday, after the hard news came, we were all at our parents'," Ido recalled.
"Aliya and I sat together, and I said to him - Eliok, the marathon also went. He answered, 'Absolutely not.' He said. We only met through a WhatsApp group, and until then we had not met. 'I want to share in your grief,' he said, 'and I wanted to inform you that you are running a marathon in his memory.' He has the power of persuasion. Somehow, after two weeks of no activity, I finally agreed, even though I wasn't in the mood.
"Training for a marathon is grueling, and includes a lot of long runs.
During these runs, when you are in moments of crisis, you imagine all kinds of things that can help you focus.
I imagined the whole family waiting for me at the finish line, with the children and parents and siblings, and it was clear to me that Yossi would be standing there.
He always stood out a little above everyone else, because that's what he was - a supportive brother, who gives a good word at every opportunity and is there for you.
But in the last months, when we were preparing for the run, I knew that this time he wouldn't be there.
And it was hard for me."
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From the left: the late Yossi, Elia and Ido Hershkovitz/courtesy of the family
Ido (38), married and the father of four from Mezekrat Batia, is the CEO of the Economic Company of the Municipality of Jerusalem; Elia (35), married from Tel Aviv, works as a business development manager at Inferow. They caught the running bug about a year and a half ago, and participated in the half marathon in Tel last year Aviv. When they decided to go for the big challenge, they tried to convince Yossi. "He was an amateur runner, and here and there we talked to him about it, but without much success," the two laugh. For the 2024 Tel Aviv Marathon, they set themselves a goal - to complete the 42 km "m in less than four hours;
And when the race was postponed because of the war, they decided not to give up and hurried to register for the Dead Sea Marathon.
The sporting challenge became a commemorative enterprise.
The Hershkowitz brothers printed T-shirts with Yossi's motto, "Just do good", printed on them, and the inscription "Remembering Yossi" appeared next to it.
Coach Singer and four of their best friends - Hagai Fleishman, Ran Israel, Avihai Bar Ilan and Hillel Ha'Meiri - joined them and ran with them.
On Thursday, before going to the Dead Sea, the two visited Yossi's grave in the military section of Mount Herzl.
When they finished settling into the hotel, they went for a 3 km release training to test the terrain conditions, had the traditional pasta feast, and the next day at 4:30 they got ready for the start at 6:15. For the last 700 meters they were joined by the extended family, with the brothers, spouses and children, and they met the goal they set in advance - and crossed the finish line together after 3:57.41 hours.
"Sahtein Aleichem".. The brothers and friends with the family at the end of the marathon/courtesy of the family, Neely Anbari-Kaufman
"It's a once-in-a-lifetime event, and I hope I'll have the sense not to repeat it again," emphasizes Ido, who despite the pain and sadness finds a way to season his descriptions with self-humor.
"The body is still sore, and I will need a few more days to recover, but the feeling is good. We met the goal and managed to do it, even though we went through some difficult moments along the way. All our training was on the road, and we did not prepare for the mud and salty sand in the Dead Sea. The winds during the run were crazy , and we had to get the extra out of ourselves.
"Around the 35th kilometer I thought this is it, I don't have it.
The winds weakened me, and my legs no longer worked, and then I shouted as loud as I could for Yossi to help me finish this thing.
I think he helped me in that part.
Elia and I talked along the way that there's no way we won't drop below four hours.
We attracted each other, along with the friends who were with us.
The last meters were the easiest, because the extended family was waiting for us - almost as I imagined - and literally carried us to the finish line.
We felt that Yossi was also there."
Elia: "I felt really good in the marathon.
It was even easier for me than in some workouts, maybe because all the pressure was released at the start of the run.
In the last few kilometers I felt that it was no longer a physical matter, but a matter of the mind, and there I thought a lot about Yossi.
He was with me every step of the way.
I thought about the reason why we went on this run, and about the family waiting for us at the end.
At the finish line, my heart exploded, when I saw how excited our parents were."
"A once-in-a-lifetime event, hopefully I'll have the sense not to run again."
Ido and Elia Hershkovitz/courtesy of the family, Nili Anbari-Kaufman
After the closing ceremony, the Hershkowitz family gave the group of runners a special shield bearing Yossi's picture.
"Well done, I really appreciate you!", it was written next to her;
That's the message he sent his younger brothers after their first race last year.
- And what would he say to you this time?
"He was sure proud of us, cheering from the bottom of his heart and saying that we played it. And also utters some other cliché that there is nothing that stands in the way of the will, or something like that."
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