The hidden impact of the war on Israelis

After the initial attack of October 7, the war was fought in Gaza, but it had widespread impacts on Israelis who lost loved ones, livelihoods and the lives they had planned.

Liora Eilon, Kfar Aza resident

On October 7, my 46-year-old son Tal who was the kibbutz civilian defence commander, was killed in the early moments of the Hamas attack onas he stepped out of his house in Kfar Aza to fight the terrorists that invaded the kibbutz.

After the horror of that day, our whole kibbutz moved to a hotel in Kibbutz Shefaiim, and later to Kibbutz Ruhama, where we are today. My old home in Kfar Aza was recently completely demolished as it was damaged so badly that it couldn’t be repaired like the others. Having been back there many times since October 7, it was very hard to see my home completely destroyed, as it was a place that held so many happy memories for my family.

One of the most important things for me now is my quest to improve the knowledge that secular Jewish Israelis have of our own tradition. I worry that if we don’t return to our sacred texts and know them well, like our secular ancestors did, that the far-right and Orthodox will define our Judaism for us.

Like many kibbutzniks, I grew up very suspicious of traditional Judaism, but since October 7 it has become more important than ever for me to engage Jewish texts with my humanistic values, especially the principles of “love of the stranger” and the innate dignity of all human beings.

Some people think what I’m doing with Jewish texts is important, but they also tell me there are more important things to focus on at this time of war. While I’m well aware of our external enemies, I think we also need to struggle against our internal enemies as well, and secular Israelis won’t be able to win that struggle if we remain ignorant of our traditional texts.