Condolences

Condolences

Feb. 3, 2006 11:44
Yosef Goodman's funeral begins
By Yaakov Katz And JPOST STAFF

The funeral ceremony of Yosef Goodman, 20, began at Jerusalem's Mt. Herzl
military cemetery on Friday at 11:30 a.m.

Goodman, an IDF soldier from the elite Maglan unit, was killed Thursday in a
parachute training accident in a military base south of Ashdod. Goodman lived in
Efrat, but was originally from New York.

Goodman jumped from an IDF plane together with other soldiers in a training
exercise at the IDF's Nizanim base. When his parachute opened, however, it got
entangled with the squad commander's parachute. Both soldiers cut their
parachutes, and while one succeeded in opening his reserve parachute, Goodman
did not and fell to the ground. Magen David Adom medics pronounced his death at
the scene.

The mishap marked the IDF's first training accident of 2006.

The army said the Military Police planned to launch an investigation into the
accident, which would also be probed by Col. Harel Knafo from the IDF Ground
Forces Command.

Goodman was the second of nine children, and his parents Mordechai and Ann
ran the local Efrat pizzeria. Both father and son played in the American
Football League in Israel (AFI).

"Yosef was an amazing athlete," recalled Steve Leibowitz, president of the
AFI. "He was a fearless player and had great athletic ability. He was by far one
of the best players in the country."

But beyond his athletic skills, Leibowitz - who has known the Goodman family
for years - said that Yosef was a "true Zionist" who believed in contributing
all of himself to the country and the IDF.

"His athletic skills led him to become a combat soldier," Leibowitz said. "He
wanted to be a combat soldier and he knew he would be good at it."

The Derech Etz Chaim football team would like to express their condolences to the Goodman family.

We have put together a video as a tribute to Yosef.