Nechemiah Ben-Yehuda, owner of the Ben-Yehuda Cranes Company, passed away yesterday. His company was a major player in the transport of caravans [mobile homes without wheels] throughout Judea and Samaria over the past 30 years, thus giving him a major role in the growth of the Yesha settlement enterprise. Shlomo Marmerosh, of Gush Emunim\'s Amanah Settlement Organization, told Arutz-7 today:
\"Nechemiah built a company that we used to call the \'Springboard of settlement in Israel.\' Another way of saying it was that the settlement enterprise stopped only wherever his trucks stopped. It was far from just a financial matter for him; he used to take part in many missions that many others wouldn\'t even come near. For instance, one time he took a truck loaded with a caravan over a mountainside - with a tractor pushing behind him! Everyone can understand that a regular person would not have done something like that. He was a man who didn\'t ask if it could be done, but what was the best way to get it done. Many times people would wake up in the morning on some hilltop and not understand how that new caravan across the way got there overnight… It was a great person, a great soul, who stood behind these things. He bought toy chests for the children of Rechelim - he was simply a great soul, and it\'s hard to think that tomorrow we\'ll wake up and no longer have him with us... May we be comforted by the continued building of Eretz Yisrael…\"
Two years ago, a new neighborhood of caravans in Beit El was named Ben-Yehuda, in tribute to Nechemiah Ben-Yehuda\'s contribution in building it and many others.
\"Nechemiah built a company that we used to call the \'Springboard of settlement in Israel.\' Another way of saying it was that the settlement enterprise stopped only wherever his trucks stopped. It was far from just a financial matter for him; he used to take part in many missions that many others wouldn\'t even come near. For instance, one time he took a truck loaded with a caravan over a mountainside - with a tractor pushing behind him! Everyone can understand that a regular person would not have done something like that. He was a man who didn\'t ask if it could be done, but what was the best way to get it done. Many times people would wake up in the morning on some hilltop and not understand how that new caravan across the way got there overnight… It was a great person, a great soul, who stood behind these things. He bought toy chests for the children of Rechelim - he was simply a great soul, and it\'s hard to think that tomorrow we\'ll wake up and no longer have him with us... May we be comforted by the continued building of Eretz Yisrael…\"
Two years ago, a new neighborhood of caravans in Beit El was named Ben-Yehuda, in tribute to Nechemiah Ben-Yehuda\'s contribution in building it and many others.