After Oct. 7, I felt a need to return to Israel.
I have been to Israel three times before this summer, and this time I felt a “calling” to be there for my “brothers and sisters” in Israel.
I applied as an Israel educator in the Milwaukee area to “A Mifgash That Matters” experience organized by the iCenter and Shorashim. This was a very different experience from my previous trips.
I met Chen, a survivor of K’far Aza, and she showed us her 84-year-old mother’s home. She told us how her mother sheltered in her safe room and survived, despite her home being attacked. I met Youssef Ziadna, an Arab Bedouin, who told us that he fit 30 people in his 14-passenger bus, and therefore saved 30 Nova music festival attendees, while one of his own relatives was killed on Oct. 7.
I met Shelly Shem Tov, mother of Omer, who was at the Nova festival. Shelly told us how Omer had told her that he had been able to get into a car and escape, but then, his phone use stopped. We were then told how Omer’s sister had asked him to keep his live location on, tracking him as he headed “home.”
Shelly then told us how she and her family watched on helplessly as “the car” headed toward the Gaza border. What they didn’t know was that Omer was not in his car at that point. He had been handcuffed and was alive in the back of a pickup truck taken into Gaza.
At the time I am writing this story, Omer is still a hostage in Gaza. The stories of Chen, Youssef and Shelly were just three of the many stories that I was told firsthand, from what happened on Oct. 7. Today, as I write this, I hope that my presence was a support for these three people, and the many other people that I got to meet while I was in Israel this summer.
I am very grateful for the chance to show my support for my friends in Israel. The experience of bearing witness to what happened on Oct. 7 will live with me forever.
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Carrie Barbakoff is in her 12th year as administrative coordinator at Anshe Sfard Kehillat Torah and her seventh year as education director at Congregation Emanu-El of Waukesha. She lives in Glendale.
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