I’ve been close to the Gaza border twice, In May 2024 I visited both Kfar Aza and the Nova site and in July 2024 I returned to both Kfar Aza and Nova along with Kibbutz Alumim. I was about a mile from Gaza on both occasions, heard and saw the drones and jets fly over Jabalya, and saw and heard bombs drop, gunfire, explosions and building collapse. Both were intense experiences as it felt strange to be so close to an active war zone.
Google Maps view from my May 2024 visit to Kfar Aza
Today I got even closer. We had the opportunity to go to Shlomi’s Food Truck, right outside Kibbutz Be’eri, and make sandwiches to feed soldiers fighting in Gaza and on the border. We cut vegetables, stuffed pita with schnitzel, salad, hummus and tahini, bagged them and filled up box after box after box, then loaded them into a truck and van, and left for the border.
Shlomi showed up outside Kibbutz Be’eri on October 8, 2023 and began making sandwiches for the soliders. Every Sunday to Thursday since then, he shows up, makes sandwiches and gives them to soldiers on the border. Volunteers, like us, began coming to help him. He has paid for this out of his own pocket for more than two years. It costs about $5,000 a week to do this. You can do the math on how much of his own money he has spent over the past more than two years feeding soldiers. It’s a passion, a mission, and an obligation for him.
Going to the border was an unbelievable experience. We drove right along it, went into the area where the soldiers were working, offering them lunch. The smiles on their faces, the thank you’s that we received are priceless. I kept thanking them. It is them who are risking their lives, going into Gaza, keeping Israel and the world safe. All we did was make and deliver some sandwiches. We walked all through the area as they worked on their tanks, handing out lunch. We met soldier and soldier after soldier. Being right there on the border with Gaza and getting to make sandwiches and then feed the soldiers was an incredible experience. It’s not something I will ever forget.
As we prepared to finish our work, we ran into a bunch of soldiers from the Carmeli unit, about to go into Gaza. Watching these brave soldiers load up into the truck, smiling, laughing, and prepared to do whatever it takes to keep Israel and the world safe, was incredibly powerful. I lifted a box of sandwiches to them in the truck so they could take them into Gaza and give them to soldiers who couldn’t come back across the border. This picture of them in the truck was possible because they all had their backs to the camera at that moment. The hate for Israel and Jews around the world means we can’t take pictures of their faces. The flag is their unit’s flag. It’s something I will always remember.
After lunch at Kibbutz Alumim, we headed to Kfar Aza. As I said, I’ve been there before. In May 2024, the devastation was incredible. The blatent brutality was in my face. By July 2024 they had begun to make some changes. This time the changes were incredible. The burned and shot up homes had been demolished and new construction was in place. Most of the kibbutz was no longer witness to the devastation of October 7th, it was a sign of life and the resilience of the Jewish people. This house is an example. In May and July of 2024 it was a symbol of the savagery of Hamas. In December 2025 it is a symbol of life, a beautiful new house in a beautiful area of the Kibbutz. As I looked at it, I could imagine myself living there. The dichotomy of my visits in 2024 and 2025 are symbolic of the Jewish people. We face many challenges and get repeatedly knocked down. But like the beautiful new house in 2025, we always get up. We look to the future with hope and with dreams. We won’t stay down, we won’t allow others to defeat us.
We met with Schacher, a resident of Kfar Aza. He told me his story and gave us the tour of Kfar Aza in July 2024. As we sat on the deck of his house, he told us what it was like on October 7th, hiding in his safe room as those around him were murdered and kidnapped. Why the terrorists didn’t come into his safe room we will never know. They came into his house, ate his food, and used his deck, the same deck and chairs we were sitting at, as their headquarters for the attack. It was surreal to be sitting in the same place that the terrorists were on October 7th.
Schacher’s table and deck, where the terrorists sat and planned their attack on October 7th at Kfar Aza.
Schacher took us around Kfar Aza, showing us where terrorists murdered people, where they kidnapped people, and told us stories of those who died and those who survived. It was incredibly powerful to experience. It was also a bit surreal as the changes since my last visit in July 2024 were obvious. While people haven’t moved back en masse yet, it was still a place of life now, not of death. Until we got to the young people’s section of the kibbutz. This area was targeted by Hamas for kidnapping and murder. The devastation remained. There are two homes we can walk in, one because the family gave permission as they want people to see the brutality of Hamas and how their daughter was murdered, the other because it was empty on October 7th. I also saw the home of Netta Epstein. I met Netta’s mother in November 2025 and her story and how Netta died was powerful and painful. Netta and his fiance were at home when Hamas stormed Kfar Aza. Hamas began throwing grenades into their small home and Netta threw them out. Until he couldn’t get to one fast enough. He jumped on the grenade to save his fiance, sacrificing his life. She was taken hostage and ultimately released. When I look at his picture, I see somebdy like my kids, with a bright future ahead. Hamas stole that from Netta, from his family, and from the world.
I wasn’t as angry at Kfar Aza this time because it was clear life was returning. It is a good lesson for us all and perhaps the true secret of why the Jewish people have continued to survive for thousands of years. We focus on life, not on death. We can grieve those who were murdered but we can’t bring them back. What we can do is live fully in their memory. We can make sure that their being murdered for the crime of being Jewish doesn’t become meaningless.
Our final stop in the south was the Nova festival site. I had heard from others how it had changed and been built up since my last visit but I wasn’t prepared for what I saw. Two new forests were built by Jewish National Fund (JNF) to honor those murdered there. There was a new area for the main stage and for the big yellow dumpsters. Seating areas had been built and real bathrooms now existed. The dirt road was replaced with paved road. Even the pictures in the field to memorialize the victims had been upgraded. It left me with conflicted feelings
The updated and upgraded Nova memorial
Part of me appreciated the need to make this into a true memorial for the country. To add exhibits and make it look more professional. Yet another part of me really appreciated the simplicity and raw emotion that the earlier version offered. Change is difficult and for me, the impact of the first two times I visited the Nova site was strong. This is a different version of the site. Yet when I watched how it impacted those on the trip who had never been to Nova before, I saw them having the same experience I had my first time. Perhaps it really is just me and what I wanted to see rather than the impact that it had. I enjoyed the main stage exhibit and the big yellow dumpsters exhibit. They were new and really added something to the experience.
The Main Stage exhibitA part of the Main Stage exhibit
We finished out time at Nova by gathering in a circle and singing. All three times I have visited Nova, we have sung. As the memorial site to those brutally murdered at a music festival, I think it is important to bring music, even if just one song, to the visit. This time we gathered together and sang Hatikvah. Not only is it the Israeli National Anthem, it means “The Hope.” On a day that involved being on the border with Gaza, visiting Kibbutz Alumim, Kibbutz Kfar Aza, and the Nova Site, hope is essential and fitting. Yet after we finished singing, we discussed the lyrics.
The song begins, “As long as the heart within the Jewish soul yearns, and towards the eastern edge, onward, and eye gazes to Zion.” The hope for the Jewish State of Israel in this song is not unconditional. In fact, it is very conditional. Our hearts must yearn towards Zion, towards Israel, in order to have a Jewish state. It has to be within us, a part of our being. That’s what makes Israel so special – the longing we have for her. The deep within us passion and love for our Jewish homeland. Without that passion and love, deep within our heart exists, so will Israel. I don’t know about you, but I know that I have that deep yearning of my soul, in my heart, for Israel, our Jewish homeland. I gaze towards Israel often, come visit whenever and as often as I can, and love being here. I hope that you do as well. It is a remarkable country on so many levels.
On their website, CBS states, “One of America’s most recognized and experienced broadcast journalists, Lesley Stahl has been a “60 Minutes” correspondent since 1991.” She should be embarrassed for her lead in to the interview she just did with Yarden Bibas for 60 minutes. Planting a false narrative to blame Israel, stating that Israel broke a ceasefire that expired when Hamas refused to move into phase 2 of the ceasefire, and holding Israel accountable for hostages being scared while kept in captivity, she showed herself to be a stooge for the media and their anti-Israel narrative.
When Yarden told her that the Hamas terrorists wouldn’t give them much food, she took the side of terrorists, trying to blame Israel by stating that perhaps they just didn’t have any food. Yarden corrected her that they did have food and would eat it front of her. That Hamas terrorists would tell them that they were giving them just enough food to keep them alive for 5 years in horrible conditions. He further told her that they learned that one of the terrorists liked massages so they would give him massages for extra food. Her response? Silence. No condemnation.
Watch the 60 minutes piece in which Yarden Bibas is interviewed.
Yarden tells her that they told him he would find a better wife and have better children after telling him that Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir were dead. Her response was “did they really say that?” and nothing more. It’s disgusting. As I watched the interview, I found her repugnant and the CBS angle an attempt to take the barbaric actions of Hamas and make them Israel’s fault.
The pain of the stories told in the piece were clear. The horrific actions of Hamas were clear. Yet Stahl and the editors at CBS were unmoved. There was no condemnation. No shock and awe at this inhumane treatment. As I watched it, I got the feeling that both Stahl and the bigwhigs at CBS believed that they deserved what they got. They seemed only sad that they had to cover it at all and shed any light on the proof of Hamas being evil and terrorists.
The piece ended and they transferred to 60 minutes Overtime, and additional online peace to extend the “conversation.” In 60 Minutes Overtime, Stahl talks with Keith and Aviva Siegel, the “Hamas militants” according to Stahl. She can’t even call them terrorists. Once again, she begins the interview and piece by framing Hamas as simply “militants”. She talks about Kibbutz Kfar Aza and shows a little bit of video from the Kibbutz but nothing that comes close to what it really looks like. I’ve been to Kfar Aza twice since October 7th and the things I saw there will never leave my mind. The brutality that occurred there is something I will never forget. The stories I heard from the IDF and from residents who lived there and had just returned are beyond horrific. Yet Stahl and CBS show none of these images. They minimize what happened that day.
The roof in one of the young people’s apartments, destroyed by grenades while she was there.
Listen to the description of what happened at this house in Kfar Aza. CBS and Lesley Stahl won’t tell you
When she reports on Keith’s release from captivity, she calls it a ‘bizarre ceremony’, quite an understatement for what it really was. Ongoing terrorism. Brutal treatment of a hostage.
The emotion from the hostages and the videos was clear. How anybody can watch and listen and not be horrified, not be offended, not believe that what happened is not just criminal but also not want to outwardly speak out against it is beyond my comprehension. Stahl and CBS show their bias throughout.
The CBS Overtime interview with Keith and Aviva Siegel
It goes beyond just CBS and Lesley Stahl. This week, Tal Shoham testified at the UN in Vienna. The UN has showed itself to hate Jews and hate Israel. There are decades of proof that they treat Israel and the Jews differently than any other group or country in the world. Read Shoham’s testimony – it’s difficult to get through. After reading it, try to defend Hamas in any way. Try to defend Hezbollah, the Houthis or Iran. It’s pure evil that must be eradicated.
Tal Shoham testifying at the UN in Viennna
“During these 50 days in isolation, shackled and starved, it was not ordinary hunger, but survival hunger, where a crumb becomes your entire world. When your body aches constantly from hunger pains.
On day 34 two human skeletons entered my room. Evyatar David and Guy Gilboa-Dalal. They told me they were beaten daily, forced to sit facing the wall, with bags over their heads, unable to move. If I thought my hunger was extreme, their was even worse. Their thirst was so intense that they would drink foul smelling salty toilet water contaminated with metals and filth.
In an act of deliberate cruelty, the terrorists forced Guy and Evyatar to watch me being released. Why, I ask you. Why would any human go to such length to inflict such torment.
During 505 days in captivity we were rarely not starving. There were many times we received just one pita bread for an entire day. We begged our captors, flattered them, even agreed to give them massages. Anything for another crumb of food. Traumatized by hunger, we collected crumb after crumb, dividing any grain of food after careful counting. Guy would sometimes spend an hour, ensuring fair distribution of every ounce.
You might assume this is the situation throughout Gaza. But the terrorists holding us always had abundant food, including fresh vegetables and fruits.
For the final 8 months of my captivity, we were held in a dungeon dozen of meter underground, with only a hole serving as a toilet. The humidity left our clothes and matrasses perpetually wet. We sweated and choked from lack of oxygen. In conditions so deplorable, no animal has ever been kept this way. We were constantly hungry and thirsty. Severe vitamin C deficiency caused Evyatar and me develop muscle inflammation.
Sadistic guards tortured us daily physically and mentally. Sometimes we were in darkness so profound, we could not see our hands in front of our faces. Meanwhile next door Hamas terrorists enjoyed a well-lit air conditioned room with plenty of food.
Hamas most dangerous weapon is not their rockets or their cruelty. It’s the fundamentalist education used to raise the next generation of terrorists. This education rejects the possibility of any state or people not governed by extreme Islamic law. In Hamas value system human life holds no worth. If we don’t recognize this, we live in illusion that will first doom Israel and then threaten the entire world. The International community must reject beliefs that foster terrorism.”
This is the reality of Hamas. They are not freedom fighters They are terrorists and pure evil. Those defending them are fools, bigots, and evil as well. Imagine being so thirsty that you would want to drink contaminated toilet water. Imagine being forced to humiliate yourself and give terrorists torturing and starving you massages for crumbs of food. Imagine living with constant hunger pains, choking from lack of oxygen…
Then imagine you are Leslie Stahl, hearing this firsthand. Talking to the parents of a current hostage who is being beaten, starved, and abused. Watch how she reacts with a flat affect. Watch and listen to how she responds. It’s as if she is a robot. No empathy. No compassion. As I watch her, I find myself thinking that she is trying to find a way to defend them, as she did earlier in the interview, and is upset that she can’t.
Watch and listen to Lesley Stahl and her lack of empathy, flat affect, and inability to condemn Hamas.
I am disgusted by Leslie Stahl and 60 minutes. How does she sleep at night? How do the higher ups at CBS keep their jobs? How do these people live with themselves?
How can the main stream media not make a major story as Hamas reduces their reported death toll by 3,400 names? They actually removed people’s names from the most recent death reports in Gaza, admitting they lied about people being killed who weren’t. For those who pay attention, this raises new concerns of inflated figures by Hamas.
This change included removing 1,000 children that had previously been reported killed in the war. Andrew Fox, associate fellow at the UK-based think tank Henry Jackson Society, was quoted stating, “If you were seeing indiscriminate killing, you would expect roughly 26% adult male deaths.” He continued, “In the 13 to 55 age group, which is Hamas’ fighter range because we know they use child soldiers, it’s 72% male in that age group.”
“So all these things clearly point towards combatants being targeted rather than just indiscriminate killing.”
Yet the media remains silent. CBS, 60 minutes and Lesley Stahl make sure to tell their story based on lies. You won’t see this in the NY Times or Washington Post. None of the other major networks will cover this. They prefer the lies.
I know that October 7th and the aftermath has become a part of who I am. I spoke out against all hatred before October 7th. Now, I will never stop speaking out against evil and hate. There may be consequences as a result. It may impact my business and who will work with me. I don’t care. The fight against evil and hate is too important. If people like the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Anwar Sadat, and Yitzak Rabin can risk, and lose, it all, then who am I to not be willing?
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Anwar Sadat, and Yitzhak Rabin (A.I. generated picture).
At the end of the day, we all have to live with ourselves and our decisions. When I close my eyes at night, I must live with my decisions and actions. How I sleep is determined by my decisions and actions. I want to be an example of morals, ethics, and values to my children and eventually my grandchildren. My children know what I have done, said, and written since October 7th. They can answer the questions my future grandchildren may ask with stories of my visits to Israel, volunteering there, and show them what I have written to stand up to hate and evil. What about yours? What do you stand for? Will you be one of those people that your grandchildren look back upon and ask where you were? What you did? Why you were silent? Only you can answer that question. Know that it is NOT too late to start now. The fight against evil and hate is nowhere close to being over. Join in the fight. Stand for something that is based on morals, ethics, and values.
Or don’t, and let the future generation judge your inaction.
I was talking to my friend Tal in Israel the other day. Tal is a Lieutenant Colonel (Res.) in the IDF and we hav been discussing a project together. He told me that we’d have to wait a few weeks to continue our conversation because he had been called back for milium (reserve duty) once again and had to report the next day. He then sighed and told me how tired he was of this. It’s been a year already and his life has been turned upside down. He then said something remarkable. He told me that he’d continuing showing up because “we have to win”. Having been to Israel in May, July, and September, I understood both the fatigue and the desire to keep showing up because there is no alternative to winning this war. It’s an existential war. Iran, through their proxies Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, won’t stop until Israel is eliminated. Until the Jews are eliminated. It’s easy to sit in the United States and criticize Israel for doing what they have to do to survive. Go to Israel and see the devastation from October 7th in the kibbutzim on the Gaza border. Kfar Aza, Nir Oz, Be’eri. Visit the site of the Nova music festival and listen to survivors and those who rescued people from the terrorists. Listen to the story of Rami Davidian, a farmer who saved 750 people on October 7th from the terrorists and the horrors he saw on October 8th when he returned to the Nova site to clean up and provide dignity to the people who had been murdered.
Israel and the survival of the Jewish people are miracles. There is no other way to describe how we have lasted for thousands of years, outliving every other society throughout history. How more than 3,000 years after we first entered the land of Israel, we are living there today. In May and July it was driven home to me multiple times how if 2,000 years ago, as the Romans were taking the Jews into slavery, the Temple was in flames, Jerusalem destroyed, you had told our ancestors that we’d be back here, in our homeland, in 2,000 years, they would have laughed at the concept. Yet here we are.
The Holocaust was an effort to send us to the history books. Hitler’s goal was to create a museum of the Jewish people that people could visit to see who we were because we no longer existed. I read a story told by Rabbi Yitz Greenberg to Rabbi Daniel Gordis about Adolf Eichmann, who had disappeared, running away in 1946, to Argentina. He was hiding with Ferenc Szálasi, the facist leader of Hungary who was his partner in wiping out Hungarian Jewry.
Adolph EichmannFerenc Szálasi
Szalasi said in his last conversation with Eichmann, “you know, if they catch us, they will put us to death. We committed this incredible crime.” So, Eichmann says to him, “if they catch me and they execute me, I will leap into my grave laughing. Why? Because he said, I didn’t kill every last Jew, but they’ll never recover. It hit such a destructive blow to the heartland of Jewry, the Eastern European Jewry was the biological heartland. They’ll never recover. I feel I succeeded even if I didn’t get all the way.” Yet the Jewish people did recover. The biological heartland was not, has never been, and never will be Eastern Europe. It has been and will always be the land of Israel.
The reason we have outlasted ancient Egypt and the Pharoahs, the Philistines, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Persians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Byzantine empire, the Crusaders, the Spanish Empire, the Nazis and the Soviet Union is because even when we are tired; no make that especially when we are tired, we do not give up. We have never given up. This is why we will outlast Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and the Iranian regime. We value life too much. We value the future too much.
I am tired. I’ve been consumed since October 7th with doing my part, whatever that may be, to fight. Putting on a rally the day after October 7th. Going to be with 300,000 people on the National Mall in Washington, DC to join together in support of the Jewish people and Israel. Writing this blog for over a year, often times multiple times a week. Going to Israel in May, July, and September. Volunteering in Israel cleaning lemon trees, picking apples, making tzizit for the IDF, making sandwiches for those in need, making care packages for IDF soldiers, bringing supplies to IDF units with me in my luggage, getting my new tattoos, wearing my dogtags, my Jewish star, my yellow ribbon pin for the hostages, helping Israeli NGOs to serve the people in need, and working to help the Israeli economy any way that I can. It’s not serving in the IDF but it’s doing my part. Just like Tal, I’m tired of this. And just like Tal, I won’t give up either. Because we have to win. We have no other choice. Golda Meir put it best.
So fight we do. We fight the antisemites. We fight on college campuses. Columbia, Penn, Harvard, MIT, Princeton, UC Berkely, Stanford, USLA, CUNY and Rutgers are a few of the major hotstpots where Jews are targeted. We fight against politicians like Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, AOC, and Summer Lee along with ensure that people like Cori Bush and Jamaal Bowman lose their Congressional seats and can’t spew their hatred. We fight against corrupt, Jew hating organizations like the United Nations, UNRWA, UNIFIL, UNICEF, and Amnesty International. We call out leaders like UN Secretary General António Guterres and UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese who tell lies about Israel and feed antisemitism. We don’t allow celebrities with a public forum like Susan Sarandan, Mark Ruffalo, John Cusack, Bella Hadid, Dua Lipa, John Oliver, Cynthia Nixon, Rachel Zegler, or adult film star Mia Khalifa to spread lies to those who listen to them only because of their celebrity status, not because they know anything.
One of my favorite speeches of all time is by Jim Valvano when he won the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the first ESPY awards. In it, he makes the famous quote, “Don’t give up, don’t ever give up.” That’s the motto of the Jewish people.
So even though we are tired, even though Israelis are tired, even though the IDF soldiers and reservists are tired, even though Israeli families are tired, we won’t stop fighting. We won’t give up. And because of that motto, the people of Israel live. Am Yisrael Chai
I’m back in Israel and have been for two full days. They have been exhausting days, physically, mentally, and spiritually. They have been uplifting days. They have been challenging days. Days filled with emotion and gratitude. Days filled with joy and sadness. Days that end in exhaustion and an inability to think any longer, let alone write. It is Friday here and that means Shabbat. Rest. Recharge. Gratitude. Life. Love. Happiness. Joy.
I have been struck by a number of things on this trip so far. Having just been here last month, coming back has felt different. Normally there is a longing to return after 6 months, a year, or two years. This trip, just a month later, has felt much more like really being home. Not just a spiritual home or a Jewish home, but a real home. The streets of Jerusalem are familiar because I was just walking them. It’s a different feeling and very comforting. Despite all that is going on here in Israel and in the world, there is both a feeling of being safe and a feeling of being where I belong. It is a special feeling that is difficult to describe, especially in the crazy world we live in now.
When we landed, we changed clothes and went to an orchard to pick apples. Sammy, the man who owns the massive agricultural area is a patent lawyer who bought the land and cultivates it purely to feed those in needs. Every bit of produce grown is donated to those in need. Sometimes it is the IDF. Sometimes it is families or even communities. If you are hungry and want/need produce, you get it for free from these fields. Volunteers like us do a great deal of the harvesting however he also hires at risk youth, those from challenging homes, those who need to earn money to help support their families, to come work the fields after school and in the summer. Not only does he not make any money on this massive investment, it costs him money to pay the people to work. It struck me that this is so Israel and is also the way to solve so many of our problems in the world. Imagine if people like Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, etc. used just a part of their immense wealth to follow this model. Imagine if they took just a fraction of their fortune and dedicated it to both feeding those in need and helping provide an income for those who need it. What would our country look like? What would our world look like?
I write a lot about how we all have the ability to change the world. This Israeli patent attorney is doing just that. He took a fraction of his wealth and invested in people. He invested in the future. He invested in humanity. As we filled up these two huge bins with apples, it was clear that his vision and passion had rubbed off on all of us. We were working hard to pick the apples. We were excited to see the bins filled. It was hot and buggy, but we didn’t care because we were doing something that was meaningful and would feed people. We were working the land of Israel. We were making a difference. I truly believe that people want to make a difference and want to give of themselves. We need to do better on all level in making this possible. This means people with the economic ability to invest like Sammy did. It means the rest of us need to invest our time and effort like we and many others do. It is possible with inspiration and commitment. Are we willing to be inspired, to share the inspiration, and committed to doing our part in making the world better?
We finished the afternoon by going to the Kotel, the Western Wall, in the old city of Jerusalem. Being in Jerusalem is always a miracle. It is always special. The place that King David built, thousands of years ago, as the center of the home of the Jews is incredible. As we walked to the Kotel, we came upon an IDF unit being inducted at the Kotel. It was amazing to watch these young soldiers finish their training and take the oath as official IDF soldiers. Many will be sent to Gaza. Many will be sent to the north to prepare for a possible war with Hezbollah in Lebanon. There stood, proud to serve their country, proud to serve the Jewish people. It was powerful to see and be a part of.
I had 20+ prayers/notes from friends to put in the Kotel, to get them directly to God. Each one I read, folded, kissed, and placed in the wall. One after another. The prayers were beautiful. They were selfless. It was all for the betterment of others or of the world. It struck me that if we actually lived this way, our world would be so much better. If our leaders truly were concerned about the betterment of others, the betterment of the world, doing the right thing no matter what, we would live in a magical place. Is it too much to ask? Maybe. Or maybe we need to ask and hope, just not to expect. Or maybe we need to ask, demand, and expect. I don’t have the answer, I only know that if that was how we acted, we’d have the world we want. When I finished with the notes, I placed my head against the Kotel, closed eyes, and thanked God for the life he has given me. For my family, my friends, and the many gifts I get every single day. I asked him to continue to do so and help me live in gratitude each and every day. I asked him to take care of my family, friends, and the world. I spent more time with the notes than I did with own prayers which felt right. As we left, I couldn’t wait to return next week.
Yesterday we went to the Nova music festival site and Kibbutz Kfar Aza. I was at both last month. Nova was powerful and felt healing last month after visiting Kfar Aza. We were doing it in reverse this time and I wondered how it would be different. It was different. We started with some music that would have been played at the festival. Then we talked about what happened. It was a powerful contradiction that we both felt and discussed. Rami Davidian, a true hero of Octobetr 7th who spoke to us last month also spoke to us. I recorded him so you can not only understand that we can all be heroes but also to see how this simple farmer changed 750+ worlds by saving 750 people on October 7th. The risks he took. The situations he put himself in to save people he didn’t know. You can get a small understanding of what October 7th was like through his words.
His story was even more powerful than before and inspired me to ask myself, what more can I do? If Rami was willing to do what he did, put his life at risk for people he didn’t know, honor the dead, what am I willing to do? One thing that he said that I want to add some context to. When he talks about the dead women tied to the trees, they were naked, at least from the waist down. They had been sexually abused. Rami not only untied them, he honored them by covering them up, by respecting their bodies, and by saying the Shema over each body. In a world with too many October 7th deniers, it is important to understand what Rami saw and hear his story.
We had a chance to wander the site. Look at the posters of those murdered or kidnapped. Put faces to names. Some had stories about them as well to remind us of the person they were. It was incredibly powerful. As one of the students said, “I tried to find this one person’s poster but there were so many posters I couldn’t find it. I kept going in circles until I finally gave up.” The feelings were powerful and deep. Not just the loss of life but the loss of the future. Who among them was destined to cure cancer? Who was going to solve our societal issues? Who was going to write the song that inspired millions, the book that took the world by storm? Who was the artist that was going to provide inspiration to millions? The loss of future is immense.
Our final stop of the day was Kibbutz Kfar Aza. Last month, as I toured Kfar Aza, I was filled with anger and rage. The inhumanity infuriated me. The way the world wants to forget or minimize October 7th fueled a deep rage as I went from house to house to house. As I saw the houses ruined, burned, and the signs on the house that indicated how many people were killed in the house. The stories we heard were painful. In the young adult neighborhood of the Kibbutz the loss of life and future was palpable. Last month my friend Ben was on his 7th visit to Kfar Aza when I was there for the first time. As I told him how painful he was, he said, “This was my 7th time here and it gets worse every single time.” I wasn’t sure what to expect this time.
This time our guide was a resident of Kfar Aza. It was much more personal. Shachar took us to his house to begin his story. His next-door neighbor was away and his wife home alone. The neighbor called Shachar and asked him to check on his wife. He braved the risk of the terrorists to check on her and found her murdered. He got back to his house and hid in his safe room with his wife, knowing that the terrorists came in next door and could come into his house at any time. We sat on Shachar’s front deck under shade as he told us his story. When he told us that the terrorists loved his deck and used it as a place to sit, plan, eat and drink, it was hard to believe that the chair I was sitting in right then was a chair the terrorists used to plan more murder and rape on October 7th. It was personal.
Shachar highlighted how the Kibbutz defense team of 12 was decimated in the first hour, leaving them without any defense for 3 hours until a group of 9 soldiers showed up. They were soon injured or killed, once again leaving them defenseless. There were an estimated 1,000-armed terrorists that entered Kfar Aza against a defense force of 12 and then 9. You don’t have to be a military expert to know those are bad odds. It took the army many hours to finally reach the Kibbutz and, in Shachar’s words, “retake Kfar Aza”. Powerful words.
The armory where many of the Kibbutz’s defense force were killed
We toured the Kibbutz and saw the houses that were burned with people inside. We saw the border and how close Jabaliya is to the Kibbutz (less than a mile from where we stood). We saw the street that is still closed, and pictures are forbidden because they are still working to identify some human remains there. Every person on that street was either murdered or kidnapped and taken hostage in Gaza. Every single person. And entire street. Imagine your street having every single person murdered or kidnapped and taken hostage. It is beyond inhumanity. We saw the youth area with the pictures of those murdered. Banners with pictures of the hostages taken from the Kibbutz. We got to enter two of the apartments where Hamas murdered people. Their personal items are still there. Outside of the massive damage due to grenades and bullets, it was a home. Yet the person who lived there was brutally murdered by terrorists.
Sivan’s house was one that we could tour. The holes in the wall and the ceiling were unbelievable. Her bathroom was as she left it.
As I listened to Shachar and toured the Kibbutz, my stomach was in pain. It was a deep gut pain. My insides were twisting with each story. The more Shachar talked, the more it hurt. When he finally went back to work, he told us that in the middle of a dangerous job, he just froze. People noticed and asked if he was ok. When he told them no, they came to take over for him. He hasn’t tried to work since then.
Yet at the end, Shachar stunned me. He told us that he still hopes for peace. After all that he has seen and experienced, he still wants peace. He isn’t sure when it will come but he believes and hopes that it will. He invited us all to come back and visit him. To stay at his house. He loves Kfar Aza. He doesn’t want to ever move and won’t leave. He wants us to come visit and really experience it. Most of all, he still wants peace.
Shachar talking to us
Last month, I wrote about how the bombs going off in Jabaliya were the only thing that gave me comfort during the visit. It bothered me then and it bothers me now. It’s not who I am yet is was who I was at that time. This trip was different. While we heard jets above us, saw missiles fired, heard explosions and gunfire, it wasn’t comforting. It felt necessary. Hearing the personal story of Shachar reinforced the evilness of Hamas. He had told us how after Hamas had murdered, raped, and kidnapped people, the civilians of Jabaliya came across the border into the Kibbutz, looting homes and stealing whatever they could. He saw a man with a crutch tying a TV to his back to take back to Gaza. While I am sure there are some innocent civilians in Gaza, the behavior of civilians on October 7th shows that most are not. From the celebrations on October 7th, the civilians who joined in the murdering, and those who came to loot and steal, the evidence is clear.
As we come closer to the end of the war in Gaza and elimination of the last battalion, it is clear that Hamas cannot remain. The textbooks provided by UNRWA cannot remain. UNRWA itself cannot remain. For there to be any peace, there needs to be both a change in leadership as well as a change in the taught hatred. Without that, we will continue to have ongoing attacks and repeated wars.
Shachar showed us that the desire for peace from Israelis remain. There are serious conditions that must happen before that can occur. The hostages must be returned. Hamas must be eliminated from any type of power structure. Gaza needs to be rebuilt with leaders who want to build a civil society with their neighbor, the Jewish State of Israel. Anything less is unacceptable. If people tell you Israel should accept anything less, tell them the truth. Anything less is not acceptable. It is not feasible. It is not acceptable. And it will not happen.
The Jewish people will not go away. We will not allow our extermination. If it becomes ‘us or them’ we will ensure it us. Am Yisrael Chai.
I’m on my way to Miami today so that I can fly to Israel on Tuesday at noon. It’s one of my least favorite times to fly because you fly all day long and then it’s 7 am in the morning and you start a whole new day. The good news is that by doing it this way, we will get a full extra day in Israel.
This trip is with the Jewish Leadership Institute (JLI), a program I am proud to have worked with for over 25 years. Targeting 19-26 year olds for a 2 week leadership experience in Israel, JLI has had an incredible impact on the lives of those who participate. Heavily subsidized, the program is available to everybody interested in developing their leadership in a Jewish context.
It is amazing that post October 7th, in the middle of a war, with things heating up in the north of Israel with Hezbollah, we have a group of young adults who want to go to Israel for two weeks, volunteer, visit Kibbutz Kfar Aza and the Nova Festival site, learn, and connect Jewishly. It is the essence of Jewish community. It is hope for our future.
Standing at the Nova site
This will be my 22nd trip to Israel. I began going after graduating college in 1989 and didn’t return for a decade. Since then, I go as often as I can. Israel is home. There is a special feeling being there that you can’t explain to somebody who hasn’t been and that once somebody has been, you don’t have to explain. I have been there during the first intifada, the second intifada, just as the country was about to reopen from Covid, and during this war. I have been there during times of quiet and during bombings. I have always felt safe in Israel. Just last month, I walked from Ben Yehuda Street to East Jerusalem through Arab neighborhoods and felt safe. The news tells one story and when you are there, you realize the media lies.
I am proud of the men who I went to Israel with last month. You can watch a 23 minute video of our trip and feel the emotions we felt, experience the power of the trip and of Israel below.
An incredible video made by Saul Blinken of our trip. Like #23 Michael Jordan, this 23 minute video is great.
I am proud of the young adults I am going with now. Years from now, my grandchildren and great grandchildren will ask what I did during this time. My children will tell them that I went to Washington DC for the March for Israel rally after October 7th, joining nearly 300,000 other people on the National Mall in support of Israel. I went to Israel multiple times. I helped get the IDF supplies that they need and got them the mezuzahs they needed due to all the reserves called up and the battlefield housing. (If you want to participate in the Mezuzah project, click here.) I took young adults to Israel and worked with organizations that helped displaced Israelis because of the attack on October 7th and the war in the north. I showed up and hope that my children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren will use that as inspiration to do the same.
In the movie, Independence Day, just like Israel currently faces incredible challenges in Gaza, from Hezbollah in the north, from Iran, from the Houthis, and from the international community, the world faced a threat from aliens that was seen as overwhelming. Just like Israel, in the movie, the people didn’t give up and rose to the challenge. The President gave a powerful speech before the attack. It reminds me exactly of what Israel is facing and how we need to rise up and do what we can to support Israel and the Jewish people.
I used to say that I didn’t understand why the German Jews stayed in Germany as long as they did. So many stayed until it was too late. When I am in Israel and when I talk to my friends in Israel, they all ask me the same question. Why are you staying in the US? I hope you don’t stay until it is too late to get out. You need to move to Israel. This is not the Aliyah recruitment that I have experienced since my first trip to Israel in 1989. This is not an effort to get more Jews to Israel. This is true concern for our safety. I find myself wondering if they are right. Like most, I think this is a small minority with a loud voice creating chaos that the media love to cover because people watch, read, and click on it. It’s good business for the media. But what if I am wrong? When will we know that it is time? Will it be when it is too late? I already have the person that will hide my family and me if it comes to that. Does that mean I expect I won’t know it is time to leave until it is too late?
As Jews, spending most of our 3500-year history in exile and under the rule of others, we are used to trying to fit in. We do our best to integrate into the culture of the country we live in and follow their rules. We fool ourselves into thinking that we are just like them. We have seen the consequences over and over and over again. Are we doing it again? The big difference this time is that we have the State of Israel. We have the IDF. We don’t have to fit in. We don’t have to hide and hope they don’t harm us. We fight back. We defend ourselves. We won’t be victims again. For nearly 3400 years, we played defense. We protected ourselves and tried to be invisible. We tried to not be a target and always failed. For the past 76 years that dynamic has changed. Since the creation of the modern State of Israel, we now play offense. When attacked, whether it was 1948, 1956, 1967, 1973, or on October 7th, we fight back. It’s a dynamic the world doesn’t like. Israelis don’t care. Zionists don’t care. Those who care are stuck in the past and would recreate the horrors of our past in order to be liked and to fit in. They refuse to learn the lessons of the past.
As I head back to Israel for the second time in just over 7 weeks, this message resonates strongly with me. I have seen the carnage at Kibbutz Kfar Aza. I have heard from survivors of the Nova Music Festival. I have seen the Hamas 47-minute video. I have been to the Nova site and felt the loss of the souls there. I have met with a hero of Nova who rescued 750 people that day (a truly remarkable number for a farmer in the area to do.) I heard from the woman who had to identify the women’s bodies that were murdered on October 7th, then prepare them for burial. I have spoken to friends who are serving in the IDF, called up from reserves and leaving their families behind. I have heard from those who have lost their children fighting for Israel and the Jewish people and from fathers who have children that are still hostages in Gaza. We are victims no more. We refuse to allow harm to come to the Jewish people without defending ourselves.
Kfar Aza – one of the most powerful and moving experiences of my life.
I don’t know what the future will bring. War with Hezbollah and potentially Iran will be devastating but may be necessary. Israel is already a different country since October 7th. What will it be like after a war in the north? How many people will die? How much damage will be done? Will the United States and NATO step in should Iran get involved? Will this be the start of World War III (WWIII)? There is much that is unknown. What I do know is that Jewish blood will not be cheap. Jewish safety matters. No matter what the ICC, the UN, or other countries say, Israel will defend herself and the Jewish people.
I also know that I have done, am doing, and will continue to do my part. Will you?
The events of October 7th have been widely circulated and publicized. Most people know what happened and even thought there are deniers, they are largely discredited. As sombody who sat in front of the TV all day on October 7th while sending WhatsApp messages to my Israeli friends and family to check on them, I have been more aware than most. In addition, I put together a viewing of the 47-minute Hamas video and I saw the Nova music festival documentary and heard a survivor speak afterwards. I have friends in the IDF reserves who gave me updates.
I thought I was prepared when we went to Hostage Square and heard from the fathers of two hostages earlier in the week. I wasn’t. Hostage Square was overwhelming and I want to go back and just sit there for hours with the family members to show support. Hearing the pleas of the fathers of two hostages was beyond painful. I’ve mainly processed the experience and while the hostages will be in my heart and mind until they are released, I figured out a way to cope with the experience.
Today, we went to the Gaza envelope. This was something I have looked forward to being able to do since October 7th. To volunteer with agriculture because the Kibbutzim and Moshavim are short workers. To visit Kfar Aza or Be’eri, the Kibbutzim that were brutally attacked. To be at the Nova music festival site and pay tribute to those murdered by Hamas terrorists while they were enjoying live music and their friends. It felt noble. It felt important. And it was.
The location of the farm where we worked on the lemon grove
Working on the lemon fields was rewarding. It wasn’t fun work. It wasn’t hard work. It was necessary work. We started by seeing the office area, using the bathroom, and getting a feel for where we were. We were about 2 miles from Gaza. They had a collection of rockets fired from Gaza in the front as well as some remnants from the Iron Dome rockets that shot them down. I got a chance to hold one of the Iron Dome rockets which was much lighter than I expected.
Holding an Iron Dome rocket used to shoot down a Hamas rocket
We then spent about an hour and a half cleaning the trees, cutting away excess branches that made it harder for them to properly water and nourish the trees. The lemons were big and delicious and I cut one up to squeeze into my water bottle. As we worked the fields, we found parts of rockets and Iron Dome rockets lying around. They couldn’t be bothered with cleaning up the smaller fragments from the grove.
Our guide from the kibbutz shared the challenges with having lost their workers from Thailand and all the workers that came daily from Gaza. The King of Thailand won’t allow them to come back to Israel but he was able to get some Thai workers back by having them go to Cypress and then pick them up there. They also added some workers from India but are still woefully short of labor. When we asked him if the Kibbutz lost any members on October 7th, his response was a bit surprising. “Yes, only 4”. I had to double and triple check that he understood I meant were any of them murdered by Hamas terrorists, not if they decided to leave the Kibbutz. He understood clearly as he told me they had 3 women and 1 man murdered. He said they got lucky. Some people climbed out of the window and ran to other houses, allowing the people coming from Gaza to just rob their homes. Others opened the door and told them to go away and they did. Nobody is sure why they got so lucky (as if having four people in your community murdered is lucky) but they were.
I think the most impactful think that he said to us was that they were planting because it gives them roots. They aren’t going anywhere. They aren’t leaving the land. They aren’t moving and they aren’t afraid. This is their home. It was a powerful statement and I thought to myself, “F them! I’ll move here. I’ll live here to show Hamas and others that we as Jews aren’t going anywhere!” Since my wife has already said I have the softest hands of anybody she knows, that feeling was really good for about 30 minutes and then reality set it. I’m not moving to be a farmer in the south of Israel. But it should did feel good for a while. Israel is our historic home and after 2,000 years, we aren’t giving it up and aren’t leaving.
On the way to Kfar Aza, one of the men on our bus asked if we could stop at the bus shelter near the Nova site to pay tribute to two of his friends who were murdered that day. As it turns out, one of the people was the uncle of the woman I heard speak in Orlando after the showing of the Nova documentary. Lee survived the massacre. Her story was brutal and gunwrenching. She had described the shelter she hid and and where she watched her uncle and others die. To see it in person and pay my respects both to her uncle and the others who perished but also to honor her survival, I wanted to get out and see it as well.
The exterior of the bomb shelter where Lee Sasi hid and her uncle and 11 others were murdered
I have been inside bomb shelters on prior visits to explore them. I knew what the size was like, the dark and dinginess. The feeling of being trapped even as the only one in there. For some reason I didn’t apply that when Lee told her story. As I stepped into the bunker, it all camp flowing back. I thought about 25 or more people cramped in this tiny space. I thought about being trapped with no way out as terrorists reached their guns around the corner and began firing randomly, guaranteeing to hit people based on both the small area and the concrete walls. I thought about what would happen each time a grenade was thrown into that small space by the terrorists. I thought about Lee, hiding underneath dead bodies to protect herself from the bullets and the grenades, using the dead bodies as shields from the explosions of the grenades. It became overwhelming and I quickly left.
Walking through the bomb shelter where Lee Sasi hid and 12 people, including her uncle, were murdered.
On the entrance and interior of the shelter there are plaques to commemorate the 12 who were murdered in this shelter. There were stickers to commemorate and remember each individual who was murdered here. It was a powerful thing to see. I’ll never forget Lee Sasi’s story nor will I forget seeing As we headed to Kfar Aza, I had no idea that this wasn’t even close to what I would experience.
Earlier I said I thought I was prepared for Hostage Square and wasn’t. I also thought I was prepared for our visit to Kfar Aza. I have a friend who is from Kfar Aza and I knew it was beautiful before October 7. When we pulled up, it looked like many other kibbutzim that I have been to. Beautiful trees, grass, and warm, welcoming feel.
Welcome to Kfar AzaBeautiful entrance to Kfar Aza
For those of you that don’t know, Kfar Aza is located in what is known as “The Gaza Envelope”. It is 1 mile west of Gaza and the city of Jabalyia. You can easily see Jabalyia from Kfar Aza. The people of Kfar Aza were peaceniks. They believed in peace and lived in peace. They had Gazans coming to work at the kibbutz and eat there as well. They’d sit as friends. On October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists broke through the gate of the kibbutz, massacring the people in the kibbutz. 62 people were murdered with another 19 people taken hostage. Four of those people remain hostages today.
Jabalya in the distance. The back of the Kibbutz’s fields are only a few hundred feet from Gaza.
As I said earlier, I thought I was prepared for Kfar Aza. I thought I understood what happened there. After all, I had watched tv all day on October 7th, talked to friends of mine who live in Israel and serve in the IDF, talked with friends who live in the south, close to Gaza. I saw the 47-minute Hamas video. I watched the Nova documentary and heard a survivor speak afterwards. I talk with my friend who is a reserve commander in Gaza and one that is a reserve commander in the north. I’m very plugged in and get real information. And yet, I wasn’t close to being prepared for what I saw.
As we began to tour the area of the Kibbutz where the Hamas terrorists attacked, I was sad with what I initially saw. It was what I expected. Houses with their roof torn off.
House in Kfar Aza with the roof torn off House in Kfar Aza with their Sukkah still up 7 months later.
Then we moved deeper into the Kibbutz and our guide from the IDF started telling stories. Watch her tell the stories. They are powerful and painful. It is something I will never forget.
Outside one of the homes in Kfar Aza where the IDF soldier tells us the story of the family who was murdered by Hamas.
This was powerful. It was hard to hear. Hard to look at the house and know the story that went with it. Yet we were only beginning.
She walked a little bit, stopped at another house, and told us another story. I’m sure she has told these stories many times. It was clear to me that no matter how many times she tells the story of the people murdered in each house, it causes her great pain. My anger continued to grow. I could feel the rage growing in my body. We moved on to another home and another story.
By this time I was boiling over with rage. I began thinking about those who deny this happened. I was thinking about those who say and believe that these people deserved it. I was furious with those who say it is all Israel’s fault and Hamas was right to massacre the Jews. I began hearing bombs dropping in Jabalya and something strange happened that I didn’t really like and continue to struggle with. Instead of feeling fear, I felt relief. Each time I heard a bomb explode just a mile away from me, it made me feel better. I’m not proud to say this and I don’t want any innocent people to be harmed. Yet what Hamas and those Gazans who followed them and looted and raped did was so horrific, bombs became the salve for my soul. Part of me feels terrible for this. Part of me is glad that something soothed my soul. It’s incredibly conflicting and I don’t think I will come to any resolution for a long time. We began walking to the next home.
The next area of homes were the youth village. At Kfar Aza, when you turn 18, you move out of your parents home and into your own apartment in this part of the Kibbutz. She told us that this was filled with life. Music and dancing. Karaoke. Barbeques. Fun. It was the heart of the Kibbutz. This was the part that was hit the hardest by Hamas. As we walked down the street, we saw pictures of those murdered and kidnapped.
There were so many, I only took a few pictures. We reached an intersection and turned towards the gate that Hamas breached to enter the Kibbutz. You can see from the picture, Jabalya is just behind the Kibbutz. 1 mile away. Maybe a little less.
I went to the gate and recorded this video. As the bombs continued to fall, it made me feel good. I hate writing that and I hate admitting it. It is not the person I am nor the person I want to be. Hamas is that type of evil. As we experienced the impact of October 7 in this part of the Kibbutz, the need to eliminate Hamas was not only clear but became an imperative.
As we headed down that part of the Kibbutz, the IDF soldier asked us not to take any pictures of the houses on that street. Everybody who lived on that street was either murdered or kidnapped. Let me repeat that again. EVERYBODY WHO LIVED ON THAT STREET WAS EITHER MURDERED OR KIDNAPPED.
The bombs went off again and I hate to admit that my thought was, “They are not coming fast enough. We need more bombs in Jabalya. We need bombs in Rafah. We need them home.” I’m not proud of these thought but I want to be honest about the feelings that were occurring as I was seeing and hearing the horror of Hamas terrorists.
We headed to the final home we would learn about and visit. They had previously explained to us that the circle with the dot inside on the walls meant there was a dead Israeli inside. They explained all the other symbols as well but that was the one I looked for first. On this house, however, along with the circle with the dot inside, there was written in Hebrew that there were human remains on the couch. Watch and listen to her tell the story.
The couch no longer exists although some of the remains are outside the house. There are pictures of the couch inside. Here are pictures of not just the couch but also inside the house. Grenades were thrown in the house so what you are looking at are because of grenades, not bullets.
Picture of the couch with human remains on it. You are looking at the blood.The ceiling. These are from grenade explosionsMore damage to the ceiling from grenades. Imagine being in the room.More pictures of the horror inside this house
I was glad this was the last house. I was completely overwhelmed with anger, resentment, sadness, grief, and similar emotions. The horror documented in this house was beyond comprehension. I couldn’t speak for a bit as we walked down to the end of the road and met with one of the new leaders of the Kibbutz security team. The team is new because 7 of the 12 members were killed by Hamas and 3 were injured. Listen to his words and maybe you can understand what they faced and what it is like today not just in Kfar Aza but all of Israel.
We headed to the bus, all of us shaken by the experience. It was quiet and solemn. It was intense. We were all a little anxious as our next stop was the Nova music festival site. After what we just saw and experiened, would we be able to handle the Nova site? I really didn’t know.
We arrived at the Nova site about 20 minutes after leaving Kfar Aza. I needed the time on the bus to just have quiet and some peace. As we pulled in, it looked so peaceful and beautiful. I could imagine the festival happening and the joy of everybody in attendance. When we got off the bus, Saul Blinkoff, our amazing trip leader, showed us a picture of where we were standing from October 7, 2023. I took a picture on May 16, 2024. You can compare the two and see how much was left in haste compared to the emptiness now.
October 7, 2023 Nova Music FestivalMay 16, 2024 Nova Festival
I wandered around the site, letting everything seep into me. There was a sadness and a beauty to the site. It was also overwhelming at the sheer number of people that were memorialized at the Nova site.
The pictures of everbody who was murdered or taken hostage at the Nova music festival. Look closely as there are a lot pictures of people.
I wandered amongst the pictures and notes about each one of the victims. Looked each person’s picture in the face and said their name in my head. Remembering them as living people. Paying tribute to how they died. Praying for their safe return if they were taken hostage. It was amazing how many young lives were ended. It reminded me of Kfar Aza and how the young people were wiped out.
Walking through the Nova site
After wandering around looking at the images of those murdered or kidnapped and taken hostage, I found myself wanting to sit down in front of some of them and really look at the person. Spend some time with them, as if I was sitting at their grave. Treat it like I was going to the shiva house (house of mourning for the 7 days after burial). So I did. It was beautifully peaceful. It felt right. Investing time in remembering these beautiful, innocent people who were murdered by Hamas because of hate. As I sat for 5-10 minutes in front of various memorials, I found some peace. Kfar Aza was hard. Nova seemed different. Perhaps it was the lack of obvious violence at the site. Maybe it was the beautiful tribute to the souls lost or kidnapped on October 7. At both Hostage Square and Nova, I felt the same peace in my soul. Awful atrocities happened at Nova and Hostage Square is a remembrance of the kidnapping and murder of innocent people. Yet both seemed to have a soul calming effect for me.
In front of the Nova tribute. It’s beautiful and peaceful and sad.
While at Nova, we had the privilege of hearing directly from Rami Davidian, a true hero of October 7 and the Nova music festival. You will want to read about him here as I can’t do justice to his story, but I will tell you a bit of it and the impact and takeaways for me.
Rami is a farmer who lives in the Gaza envelope. At 6:45 am on October 7, he received a phone call from a friend, asking him to rescue his daughter, who was near a farm in the area. She had been at the Nova festival and managed to escape and was hiding from the terrorists. Rami not only saved her, he found others on the way to save her and got others to come pick them up. Since he was out saving people, his number was shared to those who had children at Nova and his WhatsApp was filled with requests to save people. He showed us the number of messages he received. It was unbelievable as scrolled and scrolled and scrolled.
The story he told us that made us all gasp was when he went to rescue a girl named Amit. He was able to figure out where she was and as he came up to rescue her, he saw that she was surrounded by 6 Hamas terrorists. Thinking quickly, he spoke to them in Arabic (he is fluent) and introduced himself as Abu Rami, a muslim. He told them that the IDF was closing in on them and they needed to run now to stay alive. As they began to move, he told them he would take the girl to his car and come around to pick them up. It would save them time and keep them safe. They believed him, gave him Amit, and ran. He took Amit back to the car and drove away.
Unfortunately, Rami also found many people who were murdered. He took them all to one spot where he laid them together. For each person he found dead, he would also say the Shema before he left them, saying the prayer for them in case they weren’t able to. There were people who reached out to him to save their children and Rami knew they were already dead. He didn’t feel it was his place to tell them this news so he would either lie that he couldn’t find them or ask them to pray to God for safety. Even during this crazy and horrific time, he thought with compassion.
Rami is a true hero. A regular man who took action when needed and saved 750 people. To put that into context, Oskar Schindler, famous for saving Jews in the Holocaust and highlighted in the Steven Spielberg movie, Schindler’s List, saved 1200 people. Rami is a role model. A hero. A regular man who did great things. He should inspire us all to do what we can to make the world a better place. There are generations that will exist because of Rami.
Standing with Rami, a true hero, at the Nova site. He rescuted 750 people that day.
We finished our time at Nova in an incredibly beautiful way. We had Anders, a musician, with us all day and at Nova, he gathered us together in a circle to play guitar and sing. Since we were at the site of a musical festival that was attacked by terrorists who committed horrific murders, rapes, and kidnappings, I couldn’t think of anything better as a tribute to those at the festival than to play music and sing. As he played the song and we joined in, our singing attracted others. A number of boys from Miami who were visiting the site joined us as we put our arms around each other, rocked back and forth, and sang loudly. It’s something I will never forget. While the impact of Kfar Aza remains and I have much more processing to do, the time at Nova was incredibly healing. It is a place I want to return to regularly, not just to pay tribute to those who lost their lives, were kidnapped, or who escaped, but also to heal my soul.
Anders leading us in song at the Nova site. It felt right to be singing and brining music to this site.
This was a heavy and hard day. Our trip leader told us that what we were doing was similar to visiting Auschwitz not long after it was liberated. I don’t like comparisons to the Holocaust as nothing does compare to it. 6 million Jews and 11 million people are not the same as the 1,200 people murdered and 250+ kidnapped on October 7. The thought behind it, however, was the same. True genocide. Not the made up word used by those who hate Israel and the Jews. Full intent to kill every Jew and Israeli they found. The goal was to eliminate the Jews. I think back to the joy in the voice of the Hamas terrorist telling his parents that he killed 10 Jews with his own hands. His celebration. He dad congratulating him. His mother being excited and elated that he killed 10 Jews.
It bothers and frustrates me that people think Hamas is the victiim. That those who support Hamas and their evil are the ones deserving of praise. When it’s a Jewish person, I shake my head, as they clearly don’t understand that these people want them dead. The media does a terrible job reporting on Israel, with tremendous bias and often times outright lies. After having been to both Kfar Aza and Nova, it is even clearer what a terrible job they have done. The horrors at Kfar Aza will remain with me. The feeling of standing on the grounds of the Nova festival will remain with me for life. Looking at the skyline of Jabalya, less than a mile away, will stay with me. Note that I said skyline – there are buildings, and plenty of them, in Jabalya.
This has been a pilgrimage for me in many ways. I needed to be in Israel for my own connection. I needed to be immersed in the culture and with the people. I needed to be here for Yom HaZikaron and share the sadness with my Israeli brothers and sisters. I needed to visit Kfar Aza to see and experience the horrors that happened there. I needed to put my feet on the ground at the Nova site, to walk around and pay my respects to those who were murdered and those who were kidnapped. I needed to sing while at Nova to honor the festival and heal my soul.
As somebody who has been to Israel 21 times now, I know not the believe the media reports. Too many others don’t. It isn’t the same Israel that I visited the first 20 times. There are questions about the hostages. Questions about Hezbollah and the north. Uncertainty about American policy. PTSD from October 7 and everything that has happened since. The hostages need to be returned. Hamas and the war in Gaza needs to be finished. Hezbollah and the north need to be stabilized. There are many existential issues facing Israel and Israelis. I’m glad to be here now and make my contribution, however small it may be.
At the end of the day, we can all do something. If you can come to Israel, please do. If you can’t, do what you can. Speak up. Speak loudly. Don’t hide. Learn the facts to address the lies. What we each choose to do now will not just shape the Jewish future, it will determine the Jewish future.
In a Bari Weiss piece for the Free Press after their recent visit to Israel, she said,
“There was not a single conversation that I had in the week I spent in Israel where the person did not say a version of the following: There was an October 6 version of me and an October 7 version of me. I am forever changed. I am a different person.“
That hits home for me as there is no question that October 7th changed me forever. I have always been a passionate Zionist. My grandparents and parents raised me that way. They were passionate about have a Jewish homeland, my grandparents living in America during the Shoah and my parents being born at the end of it. I will never forget my grandfather telling how they listened to the UN vote on a transistor radio and how they celebrated when the vote came in that ensured a Jewish state would be created. It was dream to visit Israel and after I graduated college, my present was a 4 week trip to Israel.
I have been back to Israel 19 more times since then (total of 20 visits) and can never get another or stay long enough. There is something in the air, on the ground, that is special. The food is amazing, and I love the people, the beaches, the green of the north, the beauty of the desert. My favorite place changes all the time. Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa, the Galil. On my last visit I fell in love with Ir Yamim, a southern suburb of Netanya. Suffice it to say that I love Israel and am a proud Zionist.
Horseback riding with my friend Remo Eyal in Netanya on the beach of the Mediterranean Sea in Netanaya.
As a proud Zionist, I got involved with AIPAC (The American Israel Public Affairs Committee) more than 25 years ago. I was awarded the campus ally one year and been to many conferences. With the shift away from the big 20,000-person policy conference to the much smaller 1,400 Policy Summits, I have still been invited and have attended the first two that have been held. This week was the second and it was truly incredible.
AIPAC gets important politicians to address the summit. As a non-partisan organization that works in a bi-partisan manner, that means we hear from leaders of both parties as well as leaders of Israel. This year was no exception.
We heard from all four leaders of the House and Senate. Representative Leader Hakim Jeffries and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson as well as Senators Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell. All were powerfully pro-Israel. It made Thursday’s speech by Senator Schumer hurt even more as he was so positive when he spoke on Monday night. To call on Israel to replace their democratically elected leader in a country that has had more elections in the past few years than we can count and not call on the Palestinian Authority to have elections to end the 19 years that Mahmoud Abbas has served in his 4 year elected term is offensive. To meddle publicly in the politics of a key ally in the middle of an existential war is unacceptable. It is a reminder of why we have the challenges we do. Israel remains held to a different standard than anybody else in the world. Compared, to House Minority Leader Jeffries, who doubled down on Israel needing to eliminate Hamas, it was quite a contrast.
Representative Hakim Jeffries, Minority Leader in the HouseSenator Mitch McConnell, Minority Leader in the SenateSpeaker of the House Mike JohnsonSenator Chuck Schumer, majority leader in the Senate
Senators Rick Scott and John Fetterman were two of the leaders who attended the special dinner on Monday night, each holding court with attendees to talk, answer questions and support Israel. Representatives Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Brian Mast were also there, and I am sure there were many others that I didn’t get to see.
Representatives Don Davis (D-NC) and Rep Young Kim (R-CA) spoke together with incredible passion. Rep Davis is African American and Rep Kim is an Asian American. They showed that Israel is not just a Jewish issue and I hope many others follow their lead. It was inspiring to hear them speak.
Representative Young Kim and Representative Don Davis
Brett McGuirk, Deputy Assistant to the President and National Security Council Coordinator for the Middle East and North African gave us incredible insight into what’s going on. It was incredible to hear directly from him and we learned a great deal.
Israeli Opposition party leader Yair Lapid spoke to use by satellite from Israel. He was powerful and inspired us all. Israeli Ambassador Michael Herzog spoke to us in person, inspiring us as the Israeli Ambassador. At the end of the conference, Prime Minister Netanyahu also addressed the crowd by satellite, although I had to leave before then as I had lobbying appointments on Capitol Hill to get to.
Israeli Opposition Leader Yair LapidIsraeli Ambassador to the US Michael Herzog
Two of the best we heard from were Wesley Bell, running against Rep Cori Bush, a vile antisemite, and George Latimer, running against Jamal Bowman, another vile antisemite. Both members of the squad are behind in the polls and hearing Bell and Latimer speak gave great hope for a different Congress in 2025 that is more pro-Israel and one that is more educated on the issues and the realities.
George Latimer and Wesley Bell – hopefully they defeat Jamal Bowman and Cori Bush, two vile antisemites.
Senators Kirstin Gillibrand and Joni Ernst were on a panel with Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz. They each spoke powerfully and beautifully about Israel, the evil of Hamas, and the need for Israel to destroy Hamas.
As you can see, it was a powerful group of leaders who spoke to us. But that wasn’t the most powerful part of the conference. The most powerful part of the conference were the Israeli’s we heard from who were there on October 7th. Who experienced the terror, who lost loved ones, and parents whose dual citizen son, Omer Neutra, remains a hostage. Omer graduated high school and decided to spend a gap year in Israel. While spending his gap year in Israel, he decided that rather than return to the US for college, he wanted to enlist in the IDF and serve Israel. On October 7th he was taken hostage and has not been heard from since. Omer is all our children. We can all related to a child taking a gap year and being inspired while doing so. He could be in college right now, but instead chose to serve the Jewish people in the IDF. He has not been a hostage for nearly 160 days. As we listened to his parents, all we could think of was that Omer could be our child and he quickly became our child and our cause. When we heard a dual citizen hostage was found to have been murdered on October 7th and Hamas still has his body, we were all horrified and fearful it was Omer. Our hearts broke for the family of Itai Chen, who learned of his death FIVE MONTHS after it happened. Who don’t have his body to bury and the ability for closure.
Omer Neutra’s picture as his parents spoke to us. It was heartbreaking. Bring them home NOW!
We heard from a young woman named Or Tzuk who lives in Kfar Aza. I want to warn you that this story is graphic. She and her husband were away on holiday the weekend of October 7th. Hamas terrorists broke into her house and murdered her father, mother, and their dog. Her brother, who in her words is like a ‘big American’, hid under the bed and wasn’t found. Hamas shot bullets all around the house with a number of them grazing him. He laid in his parents and their dog’s blood and urine for 7 hours before being rescued. 7 hours lying in his parent’s blood and urine, looking at their dead bodies and the dead body of his dog. When rescued, he took off his shirt to be examined and they found that his mother’s teeth were embedded in his skin. I can’t even imagine. She now wears combat boots all the time. She has to have an exit strategy in every room she is in. She has difficulty sleeping. Listening to her talk was heartbreaking.
Or Tzuk speaking on the Israeli news 10 days after the Hamas massacre of October 7th. Her pain wasn’t any less when she spoke to us 5 months later.
We heard from a Nehoray Levy, a young man who was at the Nova Music Festival. He ran and was able to escape. He hid for hours alone. When things got quiet, he got up and ran to where he saw others who had escaped the music festival and hid together with them until they were rescued.
Nehoray recorded a farewell message to his parents and family during the Hamas attack. It’s painful to watch as he says his goodbyes, not sure if he will survive.
Daniel Waiss, who sang Hatikvah, lost both his parents on October 7th, part of the time lying between the dead bodies of his friends. I can’t imagine spending hours lying between the dead bodies of my friends, hoping and praying that the terrorists don’t come find me and kill me too. He had decided to use his music as a way to heal not only himself but others who have been traumatized. He has gone back to the area where the terrorists murdered his family and performed a concert for them. He sang beautifully and while Hatikvah is always powerful and meaningful when I sing it, this one was the most meaningful I have ever sung.
Daniel Wais singing on YouTube
After this, filled with energy and passion on behalf of the American-Israel relationship and Israel itself, we went to the Hill to lobby our Central Florida Senators and Representatives. All support Israel. Almost all agreed that Israel must do whatever it takes to defeat Hamas. They all listened to us and heard our message. I hope they all support the aid package to Israel. I hope they all understand what Israel faces. Most do, but not all. I spent Tuesday on the Hill, doing my part to advocate for Israel and the American Israeli relationship. When my future grandchildren ask me what I did after October 7, 2023, I have an answer for them. I didn’t sit silently. I didn’t hide. I became more publicly Jewish. I worked with our legislators. I attended the rally in DC. I took action. I hope that you will have answer for your grandchildren as well.
Representative Darren SotoRepresentative Daniel WebsterRepresentative Maxwell Frost – I did a bad job taking the picture
As a proud Jew and a proud Zionist, I have struggled greatly since October 7th. One image I will never forget was on the news that day. It was a minivan on the side of the road. The driver, the father of family, had been murdered and was slumped over the steering wheel. His young daughter was also murdered, slumped over him. It’s an image that will never leave my mind. I saw the Hamas 47-minute video and there are many images there that I will never forget and that will never leave my mind.
Since October 7th I have ordered a special Magen David (star of David) from Israel that I wear daily. I got my ‘Bring Them Home Now’ and ‘We will Dance Again’ dog tags from Israel that I wear every day. I got a new “Am Yisrael Chai’” pendant. As requested by Rachel Goldberg, the mother of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, the American Israeli who lost an arm at the Nova Music Festival and was taken hostage, I put the masking tape over my heart and use a sharpie to chronicle how many days the hostages have been in captivity. I get asked about that more than anything else.
My newest necklace
This AIPAC Policy Summit was powerful for me as it wasn’t just an opportunity to learn about policy, hear from politicians, lobby on the hill, and see some cool Israeli things. It was a chance to hear from Israeli’s personally impacted by October 7th. To hear their stories from their own mouths, in their own words. I’ll never forget their faces, their voices, or their stories.
When he was Hillel International President, Avraham Infeld used to say all the time that ‘Judaism is NOT a religion.’ He would step back, say it again, and then say, ‘See, I wasn’t struck by lightning. Judaism is a mishpacha (family) who share a common religion.’ Ambassador Michael Oren reiterated this in his column today. As a mishpacha, the people murdered on October 7th are my family. The people taken hostage on October 7th are my family. The people currently still being held hostage are my family. The IDF soldiers fighting and dying to eliminate the evil that is Hamas are my family. The civilians attacked in the streets in Israel and stabbed are my family. I stand with my family. I stand with Israel. Am Yisrael Chai.
With Michael Oren at the Orlando JNF event. He is truly a brilliant man and worth following his writings.Am Yisrael Chai – The people of Israel live!
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