This was a very heavy day. So, let's begin on a light note. If you have ever been to Israel, then you understand the goodness contained in these two important words: Israeli breakfast. I had forgotten the extent to which the Israeli breakfast is truly breathtaking. Spectacular. Take-your-breath-away stunning. Our very early morning began with an INCREDIBLE Israeli breakfast before boarding the minibus to head south towards the Gaza envelope. I could write an entire entry on the array of delectable treats on the breakfast buffet, but you will just have to come and see for yourself on a future visit. You won't be disappointed.
We left Jerusalem heading south towards Gaza. On the drive, Avi, our amazing guide, pointed out various sites of interest. We passed the monastery where it is believed that Mary and Joseph rested on their way to Bethlehem. We drove along the contentious security barrier that runs between the West Bank and Israel. Avi also primed us on some history of the Gaza area.
Lest the day be entirely void of some sort of commentary on our recent presidential election, we were stopped at a checkpoint heading south. The IDF soldier who got on our minibus to check us out was excited to learn that we were from Nashville and pointed to a sticker on his M-16. It was a picture of our incoming 47th president, and this sweet young soldier said with a big smile, “Trump will make America great again!” And with that, we were approved to continue on down the road.
Along the way, yellow ribbons could be seen along the road as we moved further south from Sderot to Gaza along what is known as the death road, 232. This is the road that was infiltrated by Hamas terrorists and civilians on October 7th. We passed "death shelters" which were simply road-side shelters in which many people took cover after hearing the initial rockets on the 7th, but they turned into death traps for those hiding when the terrorists came with their artillery and murdered them en masse.
We arrived at our first stop for the day: Kibbutz Kfar Aza. Rabbi Flip and I had been here in January. So, I was prepared for what we would see. The carnage had been cleaned up a bit since my last visit. You could still see where homes had been burned, bullet holes everywhere, and one home left as a memorial to the carnage of what occurred all over the kibbutz that fateful morning. It is still amazing to note how close we stood to Gaza. We not only could see Gaza through the trees, but we could hear the explosions which undoubtedly rattled some in our group. But our guide, Tzachi, assured us that the bombs going off in the distance loud and strong was "the sound of freedom... don't worry!" Tzachi also told us in no uncertain terms, "We are on the front line of the world here in the Gaza envelope. If we fail here, the entire world will lose." Which left me thinking about (rather frustratingly) how the world needs Israel to succeed but will surely criticize her actions every step along the way.
One image no Israeli will ever forget from the morning of October 7th is that of the paraglider flying into Israel from Gaza. Where did the Hamas operative learn to paraglide? In Israel, of course! They learned to glide in Netanya, as part of a peace exchange wherein they were brought to Netanya and taught to glide and GIVEN the gliders. Many of the people who did the most damage and looting and killing in Kfar Aza were not members of Hamas but average Gazan citizens who knew the borders had been breached and came over with axes and hammers and their weapons of choice to do unspeakable things. But because we are Jews and memory is of the upmost importance to us, we will speak of those things. So we never forget. Again. Tzachi shared, "This is the front line. A resident gets up and thinks about work and family and education and the resident in Gaza gets up and thinks about breaching the border and murdering. It’s the difference between light and darkness.”
Then we met a resident of Kfar Aza, Yoav Bibas. Yoav was not at the kibbutz on the 7th because he was visiting his girlfriend in Beersheva for Simchat Torah. But his parents were locked in their safe room for 22 hours. As he told his family's story, we couldn't figure out how he seemed so light and almost joyful. So we asked him, and he said that he was smiling because on Oct 7 his mission started. His mission of not letting them win. And this brings him joy. We continued to tour, viewing the horror of that morning in one particular home that has been left as a memorial.
Tzachi let us know that some residents have already moved back to help in the rebuilding and that the kibbutz plans to be fully operational and inhabited by summer of 2026.
We left Kfar Aza and headed to the nearby Nova Festival site. There, we met with Aliya, the mother of Maya who was murdered on October 7th. I have always wondered: Did Hamas know about the Nova festival and plan to attack? Some Israelis say that the assault of October 7th was supposed to be a coordinated attack with Hamas in the South and Hezbollah from the North, and not necessarily on October 7th. But when Hamas knew about Nova, they realized it was their "biggest bang for the buck" and had to capitalize on it. We won't ever really know, but the Nova Festival attack actually kept the terrorists from advancing further north because they got held up at the festival. Some say the initial plan was to go all the way up to Beersheva with the assault.
At the festival, people were dancing til 6:29 when the music stopped. Everyone looked for a way out. Maya, Aliya's daughter, got out and made it to a roadside "death" shelter with 40 other people. By 8:15 am, half of them had been murdered; one kidnapped, 12 survived. 413 people in total were murdered from the Nova Festival: mutilated, raped, burned alive, left for dead. They came to celebrate life, and the terrorists came to celebrate death. Aliya said that she has lived her life thinking there are people on "the other side" willing to talk but now she really isn't sure. The murdered that day ranged in age between 16 and 73 years old. So many bodies had been scattered in the surrounding fields from the festival that he parks authority put GPS on the vultures and were able to find many bodies as a result. Sit with that for just a moment.
To read about how some attempted to survive at the festival, read here about those who hid in a nearby dumpster.
As we left the Nova site, we stopped to pay homage to and visit the roadside shelter where Hersh had hidden and from which he had been kidnapped.
Next, we travelled to the southern city of Sderot which is no stranger to rocket fire and huddling in shelters. They have lived amongst the constant rain of rockets since 2001. On the morning of October 7th, Hamas terrorists entered Sderot through the main entrance of the city. They came prepared to murder. A family of four—mother, father, and two young daughters-- were leaving the city early to spend the holiday away from the noise of rockets. But, as they were about to head out the main entrance, just as the terrorists were entering, the sirens went off and, as is customary, they stopped their car and got out to find a nearby shelter. That is when the terrorists murdered the mother and father. When the police finally reached the car and attempted to rescue the young daughters, one said, "Atemshel Yisrael? Are you on our side? One of us?" The memorial in Sderot is a compliation of 18 (chai—life) pillars, some engraved with the most memorable words or moments from that day.
Before leaving Sderot, we stopped to view a mural of a Torah atop the police station that was taken over by Hamas militants until it was destroyed by the Israeli army in order to destroy the infiltrating terrorists, with Hebrew letters floating up to the sky. The meaning: they can try to burn us, but they can’t take our spirit. They can't take our souls. Even if they were to burn the very pages of the Torah itself, every letter in the Torah represent a Jewish life and they can never extinguish our souls.
After leaving Sderot, we headed to our last stop of the day before heading back towards Jerusalem. We visited the car cemetery, an unusual memorial which is a collection of the cars that were destroyed, burned, gutted with bullets and MPGs, as well as some of the vehicles used by the Hamas terrorists on October 7th.
But it was really less of a site of burnt cars and more of a site of burnt souls. After October 7th, families began to show up and claim the cars and the cars themselves began to take on the souls of those who once drove them, attempted to flee in them, used them as part of their rescue mission to save others at their own expense. There was an entire ambulance where 18 members of the Nova Festival were murdered. After throwing an RPG at the vehicle, the terrorists then set it on fire and all the bodies within were burned, some of them alive. An ambulance is where you can go to be safe. Not this time.
The guide who shared the stories of the various cars for us at the site said that she always believed in peace with Gaza, for 25 years, and then on October 7th, they came to destroy her. To devour her. She told us that Hamas came with a handbook of what to do if you find a Jew. "Fill your hands with blood. Cut out their heart. Cut out their liver."
A Holocaust survivor once told the story that when he went to synagogue in Berlin before the war, he was walking, and he fell ,and the Germans laughed at him and said, "You fall like a Jew," and he said, "I fall like a human, but I get up like a Jew."
Through every testimony we heard today, whether in Kfar Aza, at the Nova Festival, in Sderot or at the car cemetery, the prevailing message was: We choose life, we choose light, we will prevail, we will overcome.
Tzachi closed our day in the Gaza envelope together with these words: "I know Arabs. I know Islam. I have been in the Gulf with my family and seen an Islam of peace and tolerance and wisdom. That’s not what’s happening in Gaza. It is a perversion. It is darkness."
After a long 2 hour drive back to Jersulem, we were reunited with my now-old friend Nissimmi who treated us to the most delicious chef's dinner, curated just for us. From the food to the wine to the conversation, it was delicious through and through. On a crisp, fall Jerusalem evening, we left Nissimmi's and made the 25- minute walk back to our hotel only to fall into bed after a very full day, with full bellies, and full hearts. Am Yisrael Chai!
