Einat Mitrani-Gaddish from Rosh Hankara – will host in her temporary home
“We were evacuated from the house on the morning of October 8, literally at a moment’s notice, and who would have imagined that it would last so long,” says Einat Mitrani-Gaddish, 53, from Kibbutz Rosh Hankara. “I packed clothes for me and the children, 17-year-old twins, for three days. We thought that Chik-Chek would return. But here, six months have passed and no one knows when we will return, there is no clue and we are facing the new reality.”
Einat Mitrani-Gaddish (Photo: Ariel Gabish)
“The first week we moved in with a relative in Kiryat Motzkin. After a week they arranged for us through the council an apartment in Igor, where we lived for three months. I immediately enrolled the children in the local high school, they are in the 11th grade, a year of graduation. Bigor welcomed us with a lot of warmth, but a 30-square-meter apartment with mattresses on the floor – this is a solution that can fit for a week, two weeks, or a month. After three months, I felt that I couldn’t take it anymore and that a change had to be made for the benefit of the family.”
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“I decided to rent an apartment in Nahariya, the city closest to Rosh Hankara. I needed the familiar environment. We have lived in this apartment for three months, we have lovely landlords. When all around are asking for exorbitant prices and there is a lot of exploitation of the situation, unfortunately, I was blessed with amazing landlords who understood the situation , they wanted to help and I enjoy a sane price. It’s a warm, well-equipped house. Finally, I and the children feel at home – the most relaxing thing in this period.”
“In the past, I used to have a seder night at my mother’s in Kibbutz Rosh Hankara. My mother is also from Pune, she is at the hotel. Since I know how important the Passover Seder is to her, I invited her to my place, and also my younger brother, who is also from Pune, my father, my sister and her family, And my ex-husband, who is also being evacuated.”
“I don’t feel like cooking, I’m not in the mood, there’s a terrible sadness in the air along with a sense of longing. There’s a lot of sadness because of the abductees, the soldiers who were killed, there’s also the feeling that you’re displaced, that you’ve been forgotten. No one talks to us, doesn’t give a sense of when and how , my house in Rosh Hankara was also damaged, but even though I don’t feel like it, I do the holiday for my children to give them the feeling that my mother, who grew up in a traditional house, is also very important Time to create a so-called normal life.”
“When I read the Haggadah, I will think about the usual holiday at my mother’s house with many other guests. I really like to host, host a lot, but on this Seder night, apart from the nuclear family, I didn’t invite any other people, because there really isn’t the holiday atmosphere and desire. I hope that first of all The abductees will return home. We, the evacuees, will indeed pay a heavy price, but there are people who pay a more expensive and painful price. My heart is with them first, and by the next holiday we will all be tired.”
Limor Etzion Shlomi – spend the holiday in a hotel
“Being in a hotel for six months is very difficult. At first we didn’t even know the population, even though we come from the same locality, and we were very afraid. But we created a community,” says Limor Etzion, 41, a Shlomi resident who is staying at the Bay View Hotel in Haifa from the “Africa Israel” hotel chain together with her husband and six children. Her mother and sister are also evacuated from the same hotel.
Limor Etzion (Photo: Courtesy of Africa Israel Hotels)
“First of all, on normal days there are the preparations before Passover, the shopping. We used to host a lot in our house. We used to host family, friends, lone soldiers. I miss all these preparations very much now. Sometimes when you are at home, then all the cleaning and painting the house seems difficult to you You feel that maybe the house is small, and you no longer have the energy to clean and cook, but now I would happily go back to the same cleaning and cooking. Today you are not in your place and it shows in a lot of things.”
“This year we will celebrate the Seder night at the hotel. The staff here is great, they do everything they can for us and we appreciate it very much. Before the holiday they sat with me and two other representatives of the residents here, they asked us what we were preparing at home to somehow try to make us feel home. There will be kneidleach, types of fish we like, all kinds of salads that we used to make at home. There are evacuees here of Russian origin as well as of eastern origin, so everything should be done in an equal way so that everyone can enjoy it.”
“In the beginning it was fun to have food prepared for you, but after two weeks that feeling passed. So they are trying to organize baking workshops, mufflet workshops here. This year will be the first year that I eat food that someone else has prepared, which is not the same taste that you are used to. No matter how hard they try – When you prepare for hundreds of people, it’s not like at home. But at the hotel, they really try to give us a feeling of home.”
“I didn’t believe I would be evacuated for so long. When we left home, we each took a small trolley for four or five days. To this day, we occasionally come to Shlomi to change clothes, because there are changing seasons and we cannot store summer and winter clothes in a small hotel room.”
“I am terribly sad this holiday. Last year, on the day after Passover, rockets fell, so we are in a kind of ongoing situation from last Passover. Even sitting disconnected from home on Holiday Eve is difficult. We do not see an end to it and also feel that the return home is getting further away, because there We currently have not only a war from outside, but also a war inside our home.”
“I have a request: we would be very happy for the people to come and strengthen us, because there is a feeling that they have forgotten us. At first they wrapped us up, hugged us and saw us, and now there is a heavy feeling that they have forgotten us. We would be very happy for them to come and give us the strength to continue.”
Yaara Ariel from Ptolemy Yosef – will stay with her mother
“We were evacuated from our home on October 8. Since the beginning of the war, we have been staying at the ‘Place in the Heart’ compound in the Ein Yahav settlement in the Middle Arava Regional Council, which hosted many evacuees. We recently rented an apartment there and decided to stay there for the time being,” says Yara Ariel, 43, from the Ptolemy Yosef settlement in the Eshkol Regional Council .
Yare Ariel (Photo: Private)
“My husband works at Kibbutz Bari, he returned to work, so now lives in Tolemy Yosef. We meet on weekends. I stayed with the four children here. After a few weeks, our eldest son returned to live with his father. Currently, I and three children are in Ein Yahav. I am still I don’t feel safe going back. I think that if I go back – I think that no one has promised me peace or political order and I don’t think that life is possible there Mine are intact, but I choose the least bad option.”
“The plan is to spend the holiday at my mother’s house in Kibbutz Gulot, of course everything depends on whether it will be quiet around. If something massive breaks out, we won’t be there, I don’t want to experience shelling. In the past, we would spend the holiday either at our place in Tolemy Yosef or at my parents’. Sometimes I would host the family in my garden, everyone would help prepare food for the holiday. We didn’t do the holiday at Ptolemy Yosef. .
“I have gone through a very difficult time since the beginning of the war. My sister, Hagar Brodetz, was kidnapped in Gaza with her children. As time goes by, we understand more about the miracle that they returned, but the pain is very great. After the abductees returned, we know what they went through and what the abductees who are still in Gaza are going through As for our life, everything was destroyed. Our house in Moshav was not destroyed, but in terms of the feeling, everything was destroyed.”
“It’s like you’re standing at a train station, trying to jump into a car, wanting to move forward, get somewhere, but you can’t get on the train. It’s also this feeling that we’ve been abandoned and that nothing has really changed. It’s been six months and I don’t feel safe going back home. We’ve been through everything So much in this six months, and on the other hand, time seems to have stopped.”
“I celebrate the holiday for my children. For me, it’s really not a celebration. I don’t think we deserve to celebrate Freedom Day, I have nothing to celebrate. We can feel a great relief when the abductees return, and a few more things need to happen. The abductees need to return, there should be leadership She cares about us and that I can feel safe in my home.”
Yossi Kramer from Kibbutz Nirim – community order organizer
“The day after the nightmare we went through on October 7th, my family and I evacuated to Moshav Navot the square. We stayed there for a week with a family and then we joined the kibbutz members who were evacuated to the King Solomon Hotel in Eilat. We were received very nicely there, but it is difficult to stay in the hotel for almost five months,” says Yossi Kramer , 64, member of Kibbutz Nirim in the Eshkol Regional Council.
Yossi Kramer (Photo: Selait Bashan)
“About a month and a half ago, we moved from Eilat to Be’er Sheva, where we were received very well. In fact, there was no room for everyone in the same place in Be’er Sheva, so the community split into four: some are in sheltered housing; some live in the towers in front of the stadium, myself and several other families are in Beit Ha’Oth Mani – a very nice apartment hotel in the old city; and families with children live in the park neighborhood.”
“In the kibbutz in recent years, some of the members would celebrate the seder together in the dining room, and some celebrated with their families. This year, even though we are divided in terms of location, the kibbutz is still trying very hard to remain a community. I suggested that this year we do a kibbutz Passover as we know it. We have the tradition, the Our special Haggadah, our poems. But the situation is not easy either.
“I’m a social worker in my profession, I’m a therapist, and I thought that being together was an important thing and I suggested that I organize Passover. I won’t say that everyone was enthusiastic. There were people who said: how can we celebrate now, how can we have a party when we’re at an event like this and there’s sorrow, grief and abductions. My opinion was that in Pesach, compared to Purim and other holidays, it’s a gathering, an internal look, it’s something communal, it’s being together in these moments.”
“Then I was joined by a few more friends who help organize. We will be 80 people, out of about 400 people. We are trying to organize the Seder in our style, in our tradition, this is very important to us. We have a guy who is an illustrator, who reissues our Haggadah so that it will be current. We refer to the abductees, we refer to the situation, we also included current photos, and there are things that we removed from the Haggadah.”
“There were people in Be’er Sheva who helped us a lot. We couldn’t find a hall that was ready to host us on Passover. Villaly – a place for conferences and events in the Old City opened the place for us, a man named Dror Madmon helped us prepare for the event, and Agamim catering came to us in terms of price. There is a musician who accompanies us, we will sit together, we will sing together, only together can we become stronger as a community.”
“The strength of the kibbutz was always in these moments of joy and sadness – moments when everyone was together. It’s sitting together, singing together, remembering the abductees and also the longing to return home. For example, in our Haggadah there is the phrase: ‘We are returning to Nir, to the home we have always loved.’ “.
