I don't know about you, but sometimes one needs time to digest after a presentation. Such was the case last Wednesday after an Israeli guest speaker shared how her life has been affected by what transpired last October 7th. You could have heard a pin drop during the hour as the guest speaker shared her raw story. Tears flowed...
Our speaker first explained why she calls herself a 'Jewish' Israeli as many Israelis are secular and she learned about Judaism when she visited the United States in her 20's. After an assignment to a Jewish summer camp, she returned to Israel yearning that same camp feeling. She found a good fit at a kibbutz near Tel Aviv. She still lives there with her husband and now 3 children. It was one of the kibbutzes targeted on October 7th.
Her name / the name of her kibbutz near Tel Aviv are not what is important but the events she emotionally relayed are re: her friends, family, and community along with other affected kibbutzim including her elementary students she had taught for four consecutive years.
On last October 7th her phone lit up with red alerts with increased frequency and urgency along with her husband's phone. The ironic part was she and her family were visiting the U.S. at the time and not in Israel nor on their kibbutz...
Futile attempts followed to communicate with her students and kibbutzniks. She set up a group chat for her students. Pieces of information were gathered by texting, videos, phone calls and eventually return trips to their Israeli kibbutz filled in the hours, days, weeks and months that followed...
Hamas had infiltrated her kibbutz at 3 different points: one at the main entrance where Hamas set a fire at a factory to force workers outside. (Fortunately, that plan didn't come to fruition as the workers remained safe inside), the second where the animals are housed (where her eldest child worked) and the third, 5 houses down from their home,
Hamas arrived knowing who lived where and what jobs they held on the kibbutz. The first responders were the first targeted.
Horrifying reports followed with acts of kidnapping, torture, rape and killing. Hamas infiltrators had brought their own children with them and these kids were seen riding around the kibbutz on the kibbutz children's bikes as the atrocities occurred.
Even though initially she avoided videos, she yearned for more information. Eventually she saw a video with one of her students with bound hands on the floor.( He was kidnapped and has since been returned). Family members and friends suffered different fates, some still are being held hostage / others are never coming home.
Passover was different this year for our speaker and her kibbutz as well as many other tables with the narrative of the story of the Exodus and slavery, What will the future hold ?
October 7th affected more than Israelis as Jews worldwide are experiencing a resurgence of anti-Semitism.., a hot bed with hatred preventing Peace any time soon. Can a two state plan ever be achieved? Only time will tell...
