Shabbat Simchat Torah

I was in Jerusalem on October 7. Most of my family was together as we decided to celebrate the holiday of Sukkot and Simchat Torah in Israel. It had been a very special time for us. The morning of Shabbat Simchat Torah , I went to early services to participate in the Yizkor (memorial) prayer, typically said on the Jewish holidays to remember and honor a deceased parent.

As I was approaching the shul I heard a siren, but thought it was an emergency vehicle in the neighborhood. I had never heard an actual siren before, and therefore I was not sure what it was.

I inquired about the siren when I arrived at the shul, and was told that rockets likely had been launched in Jerusalem’s direction. Then the siren was heard again, and we were all instructed to go to the synagogue’s safe room. We waited as per the protocol. Then, as we exiting, we heard another siren, and then another.

Residents of the area started to feel more uneasy saying the number and frequency of sirens was unusual for Jerusalem. A decision was made that the Yizkor and Simchat Torah services would be abridged and conducted in the shelter for the sake of all the congregants. I said the Yizkor prayer and remembered my parents, both Holocaust survivors who in their youth suffered tremendously just for being Jews.

My parents had always taught us that now we have Israel, and as Jews we have a place of our own to go to. I had no idea that at that exact moment, there was a pogrom taking place in my own lifetime.

After services, the city was eerily quiet. There were more sirens that afternoon. Luckily, we had a safe room for our family to go to. As news came of what was taking place, we were all in total disbelief. How could this have happened? We had many questions and no answers. The more we heard, the more shook up we got.

We heard about hostages, about Kibbutzim asking for help and being taken over by the terrorists. I tried to connect to cousins who had made aliyah from Venezuela and lived in communities near the Gaza border. I was not able to get in touch with them until later on. Fortunately, they were lucky, and unharmed.

I contacted Ofer Bavly, Director General of the JUF Israel Office, for an update. How did the terrorists get in? Were there new tunnels created? They broke the fence with bulldozers, Bavly explained, and hundreds of terrorists came in with pickup trucks, motorcycles, and paragliders. Israel had been attacked by land, sea, and air.

Most of my family members were scheduled to leave Israel right after Sukkot. Everyone felt sad and conflicted about leaving. Many flights had been canceled and international carriers were suspending flights to and from Israel.

I follow JUF’s Partnership Together Whatsapp group. Our Partnership committee feels like a big extended family, and we were all concerned for one another. That Monday, Bavly posted to the group to pray for the safe return of Aviel Shalom, son of Steering Committee member Tammi Rachamim. Aviel had gone to the music festival on Saturday, and his family had not heard from him since.

The next day, we learned the tragic news that Aviel, only 27 years old, had been killed in the Saturday massacre. That afternoon was the funeral. I went with friends from the Partnership committee.

At the funeral, Aviel’s family spoke about him, and his amazing qualities, his love for family, friends, and soccer. Tammi spoke about his beautiful spirit and his gigantic smile. She said Aviel would be young forever. Tammi closed her eulogy with this:

“My dear son–a big part of my soul died with you today.” She asked her son to pray in heaven for their family and the people of Israel. Then, yellow and black balloons were launched, the colors of Aviel’s favorite soccer team.

As we were leaving the funeral, we were told that the next funeral for another young victim of the massacre was going to start shortly.

Gita Berk is a member of the JUF Board of Directors, the JUF Partnership Together Committee, and the Jewish Agency for Israel Board of Governor.