The Most Emotional Day Yet

Today we drove south to kibbutz Ein Gedi. Ein Gedi sits at the beautiful point where the Dead Sea and the Judean Desert converge. The people of the kibbutz run a guest house, produce agriculture, and bottle water for their spring. 

Kibbutz Holit

On October 7, the people of kibbutz Ein Gedi became hosts to the survivors of kibbutz Holit which sits 3/4 of a mile from the Gaza Strip.

Four women from kibbutz Holit met with us and shared with us the absolute unthinkable horror of the day. They were P'nina, Gigi, Sveta, and Gerida. Gerida (on the right), originally from South Africa, and Gigi (second from the left), born in Brooklyn, did most of the talking. P'nina, born on the kibbutz, nearly died of smoke asphyxiation, as the terrorists burned her home, the smoke entered her safe room, and she was unconscious when the IDF soldiers reached her home. Gerida's family hid in their attic for 11 hours and refused to come out until they were absolutely certain that the men who entered her house were IDF soldiers, not Hamas terrorists dressed as soldiers. 

Twenty percent of the people on their kibbutz of 84 families were murdered, including an 81 year old Holocaust survivor who was sleeping in his bed. Two members of the kibbutz remain hostages. Gerida gave us a house by house account of the families on several streets of the kibbutz, and shook while she spoke. One six year old girl hid in a closet while she heard her parents being murdered. Some survivors were in nothing but their pajamas or underwear, as the attack began at 6:27 am. All four women cried, describing not only what happened to their own family, but also what they saw -- shot bodies, burned bodies, decapitated bodies, burned houses, burned cars, and booby-trapped cars. 

The four friends are all suffering from severe PTSD as well as survivor's guilt, having lost such close friends who were more like family. They touched each other frequently, as if they needed to double check that the other was really alive. They are all in therapy. But they push themselves to speak, as they know that their stories must be told, and they gain strength when they speak. They say that the teens are suffering the most.

No one is allowed back to the kibbutz except the farmers who must tend the animals, which includes Gerida's husband. They deeply appreciate the kindness of the kibbutz Ein Gedi members, but they want to go home, or at least closer to their home. When they first arrived, they could not fathom the generosity of people in Israel and across the world. Truckloads brought everything they could need -- clothing, shoes, school supplies, toiletries, computers, books, earbuds, and on and on. They all mentioned that the clothing they were wearing was all donated. 

We sat and listened. At times I felt numb; other times I was nauseated. We wished them strength and offered to keep them in our prayers. I felt guilty that we moved on to the next thing on our itinerary (lunch) while they remain locked in their personal and collective hell.

Koolulam Concert

We returned to the hotel for a closing event and dinner. After dinner, we walked to the YMCA (pronounced Yimka) for a Koolulam concert. Koolulam describes itself as a social-music initiative aimed at strengthening the fabric of society. For several years, they have gathered people together and taught them Matisyahu's One Day, done in two or three parts with some lyrics in Arabic and some in Hebrew. I videoed the final version, but it was too large to load. You can see a version of what they do here on YouTube.

The Koolulam concert was, in many ways, just what I needed at the end of the trip. The song, with the changes made by Koolulam, celebrated what we had explored and experienced for four days. The participants stood, swayed, danced, and sang so beautifully. I pray that soon, these words, will be the reality for Jews and Arabs.

All my life, I've been waitin' for
I've been prayin' for, for the people to say
That we don't wanna fight no more
There'll be no more wars, and our children will play

Thank you to the TBJ board for allowing me the time away and supporting my attending "Seeds of Recovery." I will be forever changed.