Liora Ben Tzur of Kibbutz Ein HaShlosha gave birth to her third daughter just 30 hours before the events of October 7, 2023. Her mother, Mrs. Marcelle Talia, came from her home in Kiryat Arba to the kibbutz to help Liora’s husband with the children. On the morning of Simchat Torah, while Liora was still in the maternity ward, her mother was murdered as she walked along the paths of the kibbutz, carrying candy for the children.
This year, during Sukkot, as her mother’s yahrtzeit approached, Liora remembered that her mother’s bag must still be somewhere in her house. “It was the backpack she carried everywhere,” she recalled. Sure enough, she found it and began rummaging through it.
“I don’t know what I was looking for. Maybe a little letter she had left behind, something we hadn’t discovered yet. I opened a document wallet and found 2,000 shekels inside. Attached to the banknotes with a paper clip was a small note with one word Mom had written: Tzedakah. And underneath it, her last name: Talia.
“Wow. Two thousand shekels. Three years after Mom was murdered, she suddenly “pops in for a visit” and leaves us all with one more obligation: Give tzedakah.
“My siblings and I divided the money, and each of us chose a different cause. My husband and I decided to use our share to buy candy and little surprises for the grandchildren and the other children of Kibbutz Ein HaShlosha for Simchat Torah. I told the children that it was a holiday gift from Savta Marcelle.
“It was so typical of Mom, leaving us 2,000 shekels with a single-word instruction. She never talked about grand ideals. She never sat us down to explain her worldview. She simply gave. She would save bottles for people in need who collected them, and she wouldn’t hesitate to hand a beggar a 200-shekel bill.
“So I wanted a part of her to return to the place where she had been when she was murdered. To the children she loved so much, to the grandchildren she never managed to reach that morning, and to all the children of the kibbutz.
“On that Simchat Torah morning, Mom had set out to bring treats to the children. And now, in her backpack, we had found a small way to finish what she had started.
“Three years later, on Simchat Torah 5787, some of the residents of Kibbutz Ein HaShlosha had already returned home. And the children of the kibbutz danced with Torah scrolls and enjoyed the candy that Savta Marcelle had wanted to give them.”
A Three-Year-Old Star of David
On Yom Kippur, we were at Kibbutz Gevim, near Sderot. Shlomi Davidovitch, a beloved member of the kibbutz, was murdered on October 7. In his memory, the kibbutz opened its first-ever synagogue, named in his honor.
After the Musaf service on Yom Kippur, Gil Schwartzman, another member of the kibbutz, told us an emotional story about one of the bullets fired by terrorists at the kibbutz gate during their unsuccessful attempt to break in. The bullet struck the gate and passed through to the other side, leaving a hole in the shape of a Star of David. The kibbutz members decided not to repair the hole; instead, they placed a sign beside it.
At the end of Yom Kippur, as we were leaving, we stopped the car and got out to see it for ourselves. It was just minutes after a large and deeply moving Ne’ilah service, during which everyone had proclaimed "Shema Yisrael" and sung "Next year in a rebuilt Jerusalem."
Their voices still echoed in my head as I stood before the kibbutz gate and saw a symbol that seemed to tell the whole story: The enemy had tried to hurt us, to destroy us. But instead, he had created a Star of David. He had strengthened our identity. Through the very damage he inflicted, he had reminded us who we are and what our story is.
May we find the strength, even amid such tremendous pain, to reconnect, grow stronger, and unite.
Finding Your Own Noach’s Ark
This week’s Torah portion is Parashat Noach. Humanity had become corrupt, and Hashem brought a flood to wash away and destroy the evil in the world. Only Noah and his family survived, taking refuge in the ark that Noach had built.
Rabbi Shalom Noach Berezovsky, in his book Netivot Shalom, explains that we, too, have a mission to build our own “Noach’s ark.”
“Even when a raging flood surrounds us, and everything seems bleak, there is a Noach’s ark that can save us. When a person feels low and discouraged, the solution is found in the words of this week’s Torah portion: ‘Make yourself an ark.’ In our generation, there are three Noach’s arks: Torah, Shabbat, and unity. These powerful forces for good help us overcome the evil around us.
“This Torah portion is not relevant only to Noach’s generation. It contains a lesson for all generations to come: No matter what situation we find ourselves in, there is always a place of refuge. Even in the worst circumstances, we can still hold fast to what is good.”
Rabbi Berezovsky identifies three “Noach’s arks” that we can enter to draw strength and find inner peace: Torah study, Shabbat observance, and unity. Other commentators suggest additional “Noach’s arks,” encouraging us to find our own safe haven in a turbulent world. What is yours?
Want to read more by Sivan Rahav Meir? Google The Daily Thought or visit sivanrahavmeir.com