On January 13, 1917, Mendel Portugali, one of the founders and leading figures of Bar Giora and Hashomer, the first modern Jewish defense organizations in Israel and precursors to the Haganah and Israel Defense Forces (IDF), passed away after a self-inflicted gunshot accident. Born in Călărași, Moldova, in 1888, Portugali was raised in an observant Jewish environment and went to a religious school. He began to study commerce in nearby Kishinev but was soon expelled for being involved with a revolutionary group. He then began working as a tradesman against his family’s wishes. During the following few years, Portugali focused on rallying fellow Moldovans to rise up against Tzar Alexander III and his oppressive regime. He was soon arrested and beaten, his house was searched and he was then sentenced to five years of hard labor in Siberia. After living in Konstantyn near an Eskimo village, Portugali learned how to fish, which allowed him to survive during these years of exile. After two years, he was pardoned and Portugali returned to Moldova.Portugali joined Poalei Zion, a socialist Zionist youth movement, where he began teaching math, working as a journalist, and farming. He then fled to what was then Ottoman-controlled Palestine; some years later his family, who had survived the pogroms, joined him in Israel. He married Tova Eylovich and they had three sons, one of whom did not survive infancy. Collectively, Portugali, along with Israel Shochat, Yitzchak Ben-Zvi, Israel Giladi, Alexander Zaid, Yehezkel Hankin, Yehezkel Nissanov, and Moshe Givoni, founded “Bar-Giora,” the first modern Jewish self-defense organization. The primary goal of Bar-Giora was to protect the early (mostly northern) Jewish towns of the First and Second Aliyahs (which occurred between 1882 and 1914) from Ottoman and/or Arab attacks. Members of Bar-Giora swore an oath of discipline, selflessness, loyalty, and secrecy, while instituting a training model that forced members to learn the nature of the land; the organization demanded at least a year’s experience in farming before joining. By 1909, Bar-Giora was absorbed into the larger, more organized, “Hashomer,” or “The Watchman” (the true precursor to the Haganah)..Portugali worked both as a farmer guarding Jewish villages and as a key member of Bar-Giora. Once the group became Hashomer, he served as one of the three chairmen and spent time recruiting new members. Sadly, while on duty, Portugali accidentally shot himself with his gun. One day later, he died from his wounds and was buried in Kfar Giladi, located in the Upper Galilee in northern Israel.