Thursday morning, I went to an early breakfast with people from City Serve, an organization that is doing great work in Israel.  They are particularly focused on Ein Habesor, a Moshav near the Gaza border.  On October 7, 2023, the terrorists of Hamas attacked Ein Habesor and thanks to the bravery of some members of the Moshav, there were no casualties and no hostages taken from the Moshav.  However, nearly 60% of Israel’s produce comes from the area and the Thai workers returning to Thailand, many other workers being recalled to serve in the IDF during the war, and the members of the Moshav being relocated to the Dead Sea for safety, there aren’t enough workers to harvest the fields.  City Serve is working to help with getting the fields harvested and raising money to help take care of the needs of the members of the Moshav while they are living in hotel rooms at the Dead Sea.  These are all worthy and important causes, however that isn’t what I found most impactful from the conversation.

One of the people at breakfast was Dr. Yftach Gepner who lives on the Ein Habesor moshav.  On the morning of October 7, his brother, with one M-16, defended the moshav from the terrorists, getting the gates closed and keeping them from getting inside to murder, rape, and kidnap the Israelis who live and work there.  In the process of defending the moshav, he was shot in the shoulder and the bullet remained inside him.  As a physician, Dr Gepner knew he needed to get him to a hospital as the bullet could have gone anywhere and could have damaged internal organs.  You may have heard and read about the rest of the story.  Dr Gepner put his brother in the passenger seat of their Tesla, laid it flat, and began racing on back roads to get his brother to the hospital, which normally is 20 minutes away.  His Tesla was attacked by the terrorists and shot more than 100 times, yet he was able to keep driving, sometimes in reverse to get away from them.  It took him two hours to get to the hospital while escaping the hostages.  During the escape, his brother was shot again in the hip, breaking it.  He needed surgery and this hospital couldn’t provide it so Dr Gepner hot-wired an ambulance and stole it, giving his brother an IV to ensure his survival during the drive.  Not only did his brother get the surgery he needed, but merely weeks later he was back on the moshav, patrolling the grounds to keep it safe.  The story was inspiring on so many levels and made me want to go to Israel to volunteer even more – helping pick vegetables, cooking meals, or cleaning – doing anything that is needed from a 50+ year old.

Another of the people at the breakfast flew to Israel immediately after October 7 and was taken to Kibbutz Nir Oz.  As he spoke, his voice increased in volume, and you could feel his pain.  He shared that he had to step over dead bodies and personally saw decapitated babies, babies with limbs cut off, and true heinous crimes.  My heart broke listening to his personal experience of the horror of this Hamas attack.

City Serve is raising money to help the people of Ein Habesor.  If you are moved to give, 100% of your gift will go to the people, and there is a $150,000 match so every dollar becomes two.  You can give by clicking here.

In America, we often like to think that everybody is like us.  That everybody has the same values and morals that we do.  That it is common and normal to value human life and that we do anything to protect and safe it.  It is one of our most endearing qualities and one of our most dangerous, and many other cultures do NOT hold the same values and morals.  Their behavior shows us who they are and too often we refuse to believe them.  Hamas has shown true evil.  They have shown who they are and what they believe and value.  They do not value human life, shown through the use of human shields and turning schools, hospitals, private homes, and mosques into military bases.  They have shown they don’t value human life through the attacks on October 7^th when they murdered, raped, kidnapped, and decapitated innocent civilians.  There is no moral equivalency and there is nothing to do but to eliminate them. 

Yesterday, listening to Dr Gepner describe October 7 at Ein Habesor and hearing the other person speak about what they saw at Nir Oz, was powerful and painful.  As a proud Zionist and Jew, it strengthened my resolve to continue advocating for Israel and to embrace and express Judaism.  October 7 was a wakeup call not just to Israel but to all Jews around the world.  Hiding doesn’t get us anywhere.  Rallying as a community, like they have done in Israel, is the answer.