Many know I was in Israel on October the 7th. I arrived there the week before for family and business reasons. But the attack threw all of my plans up in the air. With confused and conflicted emotions, I returned to Atlanta 4 days later. 

In mid-November, with the help of my Kenes Tours team, I returned to Israel with my mother, brother, and others from the Orangetown Jewish Center (OJC) to do a variety of necessary volunteer jobs. We were gratified that our presence and support — especially during a war — were appreciated and much needed.

Last week, I returned to Israel again. This time with thirteen friends from Atlantan and six members of a New Jersey synagogue. My team wove together another meaningful lineup of volunteer opportunities for the group, as well as impactful meetings. Our four days on the ground were packed with working, learning, listening, crying, and …. “stress” eating.

This trip, however, hit me harder than any other I’ve ever taken. The meetings were more intimate. The stories are more heart-wrenching. The hurts and wounds go very deep. The trauma will be long-lasting. The future still is unknown. This new chapter of Jewish history is still be written.

On Monday, after a morning of picking oranges in the groves, we met with Meirav Bender Safdie, a lead volunteer at the BringThemHomeNow non-profit organization that is based at Kidnapped Square (Kikar HaChatufim). She sat with us in the headquarters in the hostages’ families’ room and told of the challenges they are facing as they try everything possible to bring home their loved ones. The awareness-building expenses are astronomical; the interview schedules are exhausting; and the desperation is real. They are determined to ensure that any ceasefire includes the release of all hostages … whether they be alive or dead.

Tuesday evening, after spending the morning volunteering at Eran’s Angels, we met with Yaron Vital, a loving father and grandfather, who movingly told of the murder of his daughter Adi Vital Kaploun at Kibbutz Hulit. Adi bravely killed a terrorist with her shotgun, saving her boys, before she ultimately died at the hands of Hamas. The boys, miraculously, were not killed or kidnapped to Gaza. They now are in the care of their father and extended families.

On Wednesday, the visits to Kibbutz Nir Oz and the Supernova Music Festival site were the toughest to process. The charred and bullet-ridden proof of the violent rampages and the overwhelming evidence of the murdered or kidnapped stand in sharp contrast to the blooming greenery and flowers of an early spring. The stories are frightening to hear. The images are horrifying to see. The emotions are impossible to control. 

At Nir Oz, Amit Siman Tov, took my colleagues and me around the Kibbutz. (Michael Rapaport was there with Amit a month ago. He saw what we saw. The professionally made video may be seen here.) She shared the stories of what took place — to her family and friends — in each and every house. On October 7th, IDF forces only arrived at the Kibbutz long after the Hamas terrorists were gone; the damage being done by then. The destruction was so pervasive that the entire Kibbutz will need to be rebuilt, whether or not the surviving residents will choose to return to live there.

At the site of the Supernova Music Festival, near Kibbutz Re’im, trees have been planted and memorials have been erected as a tribute to the 364 massacred victims. This Woodstock-style, peace-loving, music-filled setting was once a happy place. But now, the visions of chaos and panic, and the cries of agony and terror, all echo through the forest and fields. The place will forever be haunted by the souls whose blood soaks the earth.

The opportunity to go to Israel — to volunteer and to bear witness — comes with obligations. It now is the responsibility of each visitor to share the stories we heard. It is incumbent upon us to shine a light on the collective trauma of the people of Israel. It is important to communicate the various ways in which we in America and those around the world can help.

Most importantly we must ensure that we and others #NeverForget, #StandWithIsrael, and work to #BringThemHomeNow.