In Remembrance of October 7th

This was once a beautiful place. The reverberant sound of bombs from across the way in Gaza mingles with the sound of birds. The neighborhood we walked through was nothing but a disaster zone. Each house was burnt to the ground. The devastated houses were riddled with bullet holes, everywhere we looked. Blood was stained throughout the walls and the floors. What were once the remnants of tricycles where toddlers joyfully rode are now charred, black skeletons.

In 1946, before Israel was a state, the early settlers came to a barren land and planted groves, paved roads, and dug up the swamplands. Many of the original founders had survived the devastating Farhoud, or pogrom in Baghdad, Iraq. Their optimistic spirit defied the odds. They built this up from semi-arid nothingness. They labored. They sweated. And they established Kibbutz Be’eri, named for the pen name of Berel Katznelson.

Be’eri was once one of the wealthiest kibbutzim, or collective farms, in the northwestern Negev, close to the eastern border of Gaza. They established a well-known super-food company, Mankai, a printing company, and a packaging company.

In 2023, before October 7^th, there were 1,077 residents there. Today, there are around 200.

At 6:30 in the morning on October 7^th, among heavy rocket barrage, hundreds of Jihadists and looters from the Gazan al Qassam Brigades of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad stormed into the Kibbutz. Many poured in on motorcycles.

They murdered 101 Israelis, abducting 32 hostages, and killing an additional 31 security personnel.

It was a massacre.

The attack came on suddenly and brutally, leaving survivors traumatized and the kibbutz in ruins. Families were torn apart, with many desperately searching for loved ones amid the chaos. Rescue teams worked tirelessly, but the scale of destruction was overwhelming, and the sense of loss was palpable throughout the community.

Among those murdered was  a 74-year-old grandmother, the well-know peace activist Vivian Silver, who had routinely accompanied Gazan cancer patients to Hadassah hospital for treatments.

On that fateful morning, she had locked herself into a sealed room, and telephoned her sister and her son, saying she had heard Hamas terrorists right outside her home. On November 13, 2023, she was confirmed dead.

Eli Sharabi had been a resident of Kibbutz Be’eri. His wife Lianne and his two daughters, Noya and Yahel were forced to watch as he was dragged away from his home. They were later murdered that day. Eli spent 491 days in the barbaric captivity of the terrorist tunnels. He had also been tied up in a Hamas family home. Eli endured brutal physical beatings, psychological torture and near-total starvation. He spoke lovingly of returning home to his wife and daughters, unaware they had been killed on October 7th.Upon his release, on February 8, 2025, his relatives could hardly recognize him, as he looked like a survivor of Auschwitz.

And then there was the Gat family.  The mother, Kinneret, was brutally murdered on October 7^th. Her son, Alon, together with his wife Yarden managed to escape, and to run and hide with their baby daughter Geffen. Carmel, her daughter, a 40-year-old therapist and yoga instructor, was forcibly removed from her parents’ home and dragged into Gaza.  After 329 days in Hamas captivity, she, together with Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, Ori Danino, 25, Alex Lobinov, 32, Almog Sarusi, 7, and Eden Yerushalmi,24, were all murdered.

  Along with these stories there are so many more horrific tragedies. This is why Israel has been forced to fight to survive. Otherwise, there would be a constant continuation of the events of October 7^th.

The aftermath of this unprecedented attack continues to haunt the community. Survivors grapple with deep emotional scars, and the once-thriving kibbutz now stands as a stark reminder of the horrors endured. Memorials and support groups have become essential, as those remaining seek ways to heal and rebuild in the face of unimaginable loss. The resilience shown by these individuals highlights the enduring strength of the human spirit, even in the darkest of times.

Sarah N. Stern is Founder and President of EMET.