After St.-Sgt.-Maj. Ran Gvili, the last hostage recovered from Gaza, was finally buried in Israel, it was the mother of freed hostage Guy Gilboa-Dalal who spoke for millions of Jews around the world when she uttered the words “We are one people with one heart.”
More than two years after our collective calendar froze on Oct. 7, 2023, we have now been able to update our timeline.
As the Jewish people, and Israelis in particular, began to breathe again, the feeling of those intricately involved in the Israel-Hamas War was one of relief.
A mother rebuilding
Miriam Gritzewsky, who recently immigrated from Mexico, is the mother of freed hostage Ilana Gritzewsky.
Ilana spent 55 days in Hamas captivity, separated from her now fiancé, Matan Zangauker, one of the last hostages released following the implementation of US President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan.
Gritzewsky made aliyah around a year ago, shortly after Ilana’s release. Her move was motivated not only by the desire to be close to her daughter, who had immigrated to Israel 16 years earlier through the Naale program, but also by a long-held dream.
That dream began during a Momentum trip in 2016, which convinced Gritzewsky that she belonged in Israel. The move, however, was delayed for years until Ilana returned from captivity.
Working closely with Israel’s Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Ministry, Momentum, an international Jewish women’s movement, empowers mothers to strengthen their Jewish identity and to change their communities in the Diaspora.
Its work begins with a seven-day journey in Israel and continues through year-round programs. Founded in 2008, it has reached over 25,000 people across 38 countries and received the Jerusalem Unity Prize.
“When Momentum ended, I said, ‘I am going to come and make aliyah.’” Gritzewsky recounted.
Since she arrived, “I have had the fortune to find people who supported me, who helped me. I always had support from people who backed me up,” Gritzewsky told The Jerusalem Post.
Once in Israel, she was confronted with the emotional weight of being the mother of a survivor, a reality she had never imagined.
“It felt like my daughter was born again. During the 55 days she was in captivity, I was in Mexico. I spent every day praying for her to return, for her to be alive, for her to be well. After Ilana was released, from that day on, every day I am grateful for her life,” Gritzewsky said.
Serving families
Lt.-Col. (res.) Tzahit Levy helps families like Gritzewsky’s.
“In my reserve role since October 2023, I have accompanied the families of the kidnapped civilians and soldiers, also after their return. Throughout the entire period, we worked 24/7, providing responses to all aspects the families needed: financial, emotional, and psychological support,” Levy told the Post.
Since Oct. 7, Levy has been working with the IDF Hostages and Missing Persons Center, supporting families and returning soldiers. Momentum recognized her for her dedicated service.
“The approach was to do everything for the families, to assist them in every matter and need, knowing that their lives had changed beyond recognition from the day their loved ones were abducted,” she said.
Beyond her reserve service, Levy is the CEO and founder of Po-Reshet Israel, a 2,000-member network of female IDF veterans.
She founded Po-Reshet in 2014 after retiring from the IDF, when she found herself struggling to navigate life after 28 years of service. Realizing that others had gone through similar transitions, she built a community grounded in shared experience.
“From this place, I began organizing various activities and founded a community. Po-Reshet is a community for retirees from the IDF, meaning that a social network is being created here for networking, connections, and cooperation among the members of the community,” Levy said.
Po-Reshet’s volunteer wing is what connected the organization with Momentum. Today, their partnership allows IDF retirees to accompany groups of Jewish women during Momentum’s week-long Israel journeys.
“We serve as a ‘living bridge’ for the Jewish women between them and Israel,” Levy explained.
“We help mediate the experience of what it is like to be a Jewish mother in Israel and an IDF officer with a minimum of 25 years of service, with most of us continuing reserve duty even after retiring from the IDF,” she added.
For many participants, including Levy herself, the journey becomes one of personal identity and connection.
“For me too, the question regarding my role as a Jewish mother, an Israeli, someone who served in the IDF and still serves in the reserves, and as someone who sends her children to enlist in the IDF became much sharper.
“The question regarding my role in the continuation of the chain of generations became clearer,” Levy said.
Two stories, one reality
Today, belonging to the Jewish people and Israeli society carries a heightened meaning, shaped by the trauma of Oct. 7. Rising antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment have made unity not just a value but a necessity.
While Gritzewsky and Levy do not know each other personally, their stories are intrinsically connected.
Gritzewsky left behind her life in the Diaspora to become an Israeli citizen and mother of a freed Hamas captive, suddenly thrust into the collective trauma that many new immigrants feel only from a distance.
Levy, after a lifetime serving within that trauma through the IDF, found herself called back into the heart of it after Oct. 7.
“I myself am an IDF orphan, and I am married to a [man who is a] bereaved brother. I know firsthand about coping with bereavement, sorrow, and pain. The choices I made in my life, to work in the fields of casualties and personal welfare, and in general in helping people, stem from love of people and the desire to increase goodness,” Levy said.
She has come to understand even more deeply that today, being a Jewish woman and an Israeli mother means being a bridge and a place of comfort for a wounded nation.