Travel Journal - Mission to Israel - June 2024

Our TBS Israel Mission just completed our first day in Israel. It was an intense and powerful beginning to our trip. The theme of our trip is “From Darkness To Light,” so today we were focused on the darkness as we were transported back in time and revisited the terrible attacks committed by Hamas terrorists against Israeli civilians and soldiers on October 7. It was important for us to see the destruction with our own eyes and hear for ourselves the first-hand accounts of heroism and tragedy. 

To view all of the photos from our trip, click here to visit the full photo gallery.

After we landed earlier this morning our group headed straight down south to what is known as the Gaza Envelope and to the site of the Nova Music Festival. It was here that approximately 4,400 people came together to celebrate peace and love. It became the exact opposite when terrorists attacked from Gaza, killing at least 364 souls and wounding countless others. As you can see from the pictures, this site has become a memorial for the victims. It was surreal to walk around the site of the Nova Festival.  The sense of loss and trauma were palpable. And yet, even amidst the horror, we also left the site with a sense of hope.  For one, we were lucky enough to meet with Asher, an IDF soldier who is 21 years old and is in a unit of the IDF that oversees the destruction of the tunnels in Gaza.  Aaron was born in Los Angeles and his family made Aliyah when he was 16.  Asher was the first of many Israeli heroes that we met today.  Second, our group found hope in the trees that have now been planted across the road from the Nova site, 364 trees, one for each person murdered, a sign of Israeli resilience; a message of Am Yisrael Hai.

Next, we stopped at the roadside shelter at Kibbutz Re’im where Hersh Goldberg-Polin was taken hostage and his friend Aner Shapira was murdered.  During the attack on October 7th, about 30 people hid in the roadside shelter.  Aner was serving in an elite unit of the IDF.  As they found themselves hiding for their lives in the shelter. Aner turned to the others and said, "Don’t worry, I will protect you."  Then he continued: “If I fall down, someone else needs to get up and take over.”  As Hamas terrorists, repeatedly threw grenades into the shelter, Aner and Hersh bravely picked them up and threw them back (they had 2.5 seconds per grenade to get them out of their hands).  Hersh lost one of his hands to a grenade.  Aner, meanwhile, successfully threw seven live grenades back at the terrorist but the 8th one got him and he died at the scene.  Heroes.

Next, we went to lunch in Netivot, a small town of about 30,000 people.  There we met with Dr. Ilan Troen a brilliant scholar, who told us the heartbreaking story of how his daughter Deborah and her husband Shlomi were murdered by Hamas terrorists in the safe room of their home on October 7th.  More heroes.  Deborah saved the life of her 16-year-old son by physically shielding him from gunfire.

After lunch, we traveled to Be’eri, one of the largest kibbutzim (about 1,200 people) in Israel and certainly in the vicinity of Gaza.  Just a few miles from the Gaza border, Be’eri was the first kibbutz the terrorists infiltrated on October 7th, murdering 98 people (10 children), taking 35 hostages (10 children), leaving 31 children orphaned, and of the approximately 360 houses, destroying about 140 and damaging an additional 120.  After October 7th, 280 dead terrorists were found in Be’eri and it is estimated that there were 300-500 terrorists that ultimately entered the kibbutz.  We heard numerous personal stories of individuals and families, each one heartbreaking. It was particularly powerful to be at Be’eri after two representatives of the kibbutz, Nieve and Hugo visited TBS and shared their stories a few weeks ago.  Today we met with another resident of the kibbutz, Rami, who served as our guide.   Rami, who is 70 years old, also told us his personal story of October 7th—how he and some other incredibly brave members of the kibbutz fought off the terrorist for hours upon hours on October 7th.  Rami’s main message was: “It’s not about me or we (the community members of Kibbutz Be'eri), but rather, it is about US. This is our moment, our chance to come together as one united Jewish community."  He also told us that the residents of Be’eri are determined to rebuild the kibbutz and return.  An incredible hero.

After hours of intensity through bearing witness to the horrors of October 7th, we ended our afternoon on a high note; with a visit to a school in Kiryat Gat and meeting with an organization called Youth Futures.  We were greeted by children signing and dancing to “Am Yisrael Hai" and inviting us to join them.  After a very intense day, it absolutely sent shivers down my spine. For a number of years now, TBS has a special relationship with Youth Futures, an organization that provides support and mentors to thousands of “at risk” children and their parents throughout Israel.  In addition, since October 7th, they have been doing incredible work helping the children cope with trauma.   Both our After learning about Youth Futures we had an opportunity to meet with some of the very sweet students and create an Am Yisrael Hai artwork together. We ended the visit as we began, singing Am Yisrael Hai.

As afternoon became evening, it was finally time to make our way to Jerusalem where we enjoyed dinner together while meeting with Gil Hoffman, the Executive Director of Honest Reporting, and previously the Chief Political Correspondent for the Jerusalem Post.  Gil was able to share an amazing perspective as someone who has been in Gaza, as someone who has conducted many interviews with Israeli leadership, and as someone who has seen it all with his own eyes.  Gil talked openly and honestly about the current war and about his hope for the future.

We have now checked into our hotel in Jerusalem and everyone is ready for a good night of sleep.  But first, a few major takeaways from today:

• If you have not been to Israel to see it with your own eyes and hear it directly from survivors and the IDF, whatever you think/imagine happened on October 7th, it was SO MUCH WORSE.  It was a Holocaust.
• And if you have not been to Israel to hear from Israelis and especially soldiers about what is actually going on in Gaza, then it is nearly impossible to understand the PURE EVIL that Israel is fighting against and the humanity by which Israel is trying to fight.
• The stories we are hearing are so important and must be shared.
• In Israel, you find heroes everywhere you turn.  It is a country of heroes.

That’s all for now.  More to come tomorrow.  Thank you for reading and for your support.  Am Yisrael Hai!