Letters from Israel

Today was the hardest day of the trip, but so incredibly important. Today we traveled South to communities near Gaza, and ultimately to the Gaza Envelope. First, we went to Ofakim, a town of about 40,000 people, about 13 miles from Gaza. We met with representatives from an organization called Youth Futures. Youth Futures provides support and mentors to thousands of “at risk” children and their parents throughout Israel. In addition, since October 7th, they have been doing incredible work helping the children cope with trauma. Both our South Jersey Federation and TBS have invested in and supported Youth Futures for years. After learning about Youth Futures and meeting with some very sweet students, we had lunch with some of the government leadership of Ofakim. Ofakim was the farthest east and the farthest into Israel that the terrorists got on October 7th, murdering 50 people in the town. We heard stories of trauma, resilience, and unity, and the Ofakim leadership told us how the residents have come together in powerful ways over the last five months.

Our afternoon was one of the hardest and most important experiences that I have ever had. From Ofakim we drove into the Gaza Envelope, specifically to the site of the Nova Music Festival. It is hard to find words to describe the pain, the heartbreak, and the horror. Memorials everywhere. Faces of young and old. There were hundreds of visitors there with us, many of them IDF soldiers, and yet, no one said a word, except when another group started to sing Acheinu. 364 innocent lives were stolen at the Music Festival. We saw where people ran. We saw burn marks on the road where cars were set on fire. We saw the look on everyone’s face, Israeli’s and non-Israelis alike. Eyes filled with tears. Hearts feeling like we were standing at the memorial of our brothers and sisters. OUR FAMILY. As we were leaving, we stopped across the way in a field where Israelis have planted Eucalyptus trees; 364 of them to be exact. One for each person murdered. On one side of the path were the memorials, the faces, the indescribable sorrow and loss. On the other side were small saplings that have started to grow.

From the site of the music festival we traveled to Be’eri, one of the largest kibbutzim (about 1,200 people) in Israel and certainly in the vicinity of Gaza. Just a few miles from the Gaza border, Be’eri was the first kibbutz the terrorists infiltrated on October 7th, murdering 98 people (10 children), taking 35 hostages (10 children), leaving 31 children orphaned, and of the approximately 360 houses, destroying about 140 and damaging an additional 120. After October 7th, 280 dead terrorists were found in Be’eri and it is estimated that there were 300-500 terrorists that ultimately entered the kibbutz. They targeted larger houses with more people and children. They either went directly to the safe rooms in each house and killed the residents hiding inside, or in many cases, they set the homes on fire and waited until the residents left the safe rooms, because they couldn’t breathe, and then murdered them. There are many personal stories of individuals and families that we were told, and I will do my best to share them upon returning to the U.S. Our guide Yarden, had a brother murdered on the kibbutz on October 7th. He and a few others have already moved back to the kibbutz and are working every day to rebuild. Stopping in front of a house where a baby and her father were murdered, a family with direct connections to our South Jersey Jewish community, we lit yarzheit candles, chanted a memorial prayer for all those murdered on October 7th, and recited Kaddish.

Some takeaways from today (and the mission thus far in general):

If you have not been to Israel to see it with your own eyes and hear it directly from survivors and the IDF, whatever you think/imagine happened on October 7th, it was SO MUCH WORSE. It was a Holocaust.

And if you have not been to Israel to hear from Israeli’s and especially soldiers about what is actually going on in Gaza, then it is nearly impossible to understand the PURE EVIL that Israel is fighting against and the humanity by which Israel is trying to fight.

One Israeli after another has told us how much it means to them that we are here. The support and love mean so much to them. And as they keep telling us, having the space and audience to share their stories, their heart-rending, deeply personal stories, is helpful for their processing.

Israelis are incredibly strong and resilient. It is remarkable.  AND we cannot let that mask the trauma and suffering they have endured and continue to endure.

And finally, despite the immense loss, suffering, and trauma, a message I got from so many Israelis today and throughout the trip is that Israel will be okay. It will take time to rebuild and there is tremendous healing that is needed. Israel needs us now more than ever. But, Israel will be okay, because that is the Israeli way. That is the Jewish way.

Am Yisrael Chai.