Life Triumphs over Death as Kibbutz Be’eri Rebuilds

June 26, 2024

by: Ilse Strauss

Wednesday, 26 June 2024 | The scene that greeted Itzik and his family was like something out of an apocalyptic movie. Family homes reduced to piles of charred rubble. Bodies tossed like limp ragdolls on the sidewalk. Bits of furniture strewn across the remains of once immaculate lawns and prize gardens.

When Itzik slammed the door to the bomb shelter shut as the first air raid siren sounded on October 7, Kibbutz Be’eri was paradise. Thirteen hours later when the soldiers rescued him and his family from their hiding place, they emerged to unimaginable destruction. In that moment, Itzik knew he had to be strong—for his family. So he gathered his 14-year-old son in a bear hug and promised, “They came to destroy. But we’ll rebuild. I promise you. We will rebuild.”

On Monday, the survivors of the Be’eri Massacre took the first step to fulfilling that promise when they laid the cornerstone for a new neighborhood of 52 homes in a ceremony that stands as a beacon of light shining from the very spot where Israel suffered one of the severest blows in its history.

The tranquil agricultural community of Kibbutz Be’eri was one of the hardest hit on October 7. Located a mere 2.5 miles [4 km.] from the Gaza Strip, this was where Hamas terrorists committed some of the worst atrocities, often filming themselves rampaging through family homes as they gleefully killed, raped and tortured men, women, children and the elderly. Roughly one in ten inhabitants of Be’eri were massacred and some two dozen were taken hostage, while 150 buildings were destroyed.

Eight months later, the survivors stood on the edge of the clearing where the 52 homes will soon be constructed. Officials addressing the audience juxtaposed a message of hope with anecdotes of loved ones lost. A well-known Israeli artist sang as grown men with weathered faces swiped at errant tears running down rivulets carved by time and the Israeli sun. And as the first thump of concrete fell on the cornerstone, a bitter-sweet cheer filled the sweltering sky.

The 52 new homes in Kibbutz Be’eri mean that life will once again flourish in the very spot where the enemies of Israel tried to sow death. It means that Hamas struck a severe blow, that yes, the war is not yet won and all the hostages are not yet home, but ultimately, light will triumph over darkness. Life will triumph over death.

Even the name of the neighborhood, Shikmim or sycamore in English, is heavy with significance. Shikmim comes from the Hebrew word meaning regrowth, a reference to the sycamore tree’s tenacity to spout new life even when cut down to a seemingly dead stump.

“Today is a new dawn for us,” explains Yarden Zemach, 38. Zemach and his four siblings were born and raised in Be’eri, and then returned to the kibbutz as adults to raise their own families there. Yarden’s brother, Shachar, 39, a dedicated peace activist, was murdered on October 7 as he tried to defend the makeshift triage center where first responders were treating the wounded. Shachar, the Hebrew word for dawn, leaves behind his wife and two toddlers.

A team from Bridges for Peace was invited to the ceremony to rejoice with the community of Be’eri. Thanks to Christians from around the world, we were, after all, alongside the community of Be’eri within days of the attack, providing emotional support, appliances, food and school supplies. We could prove in the most practical ways that the people of Israel are not alone, that their Christian brothers and sisters are with them.

“On October 7, we saw the worst of humanity,” Yarden said. “But in the aftermath, we also saw the best of humanity when people like you came to support us, to help us.”

One by one, those who survived the Be’eri Massacre on October 7 stepped up to the cornerstone. Once peaceful farmers, all now sport automatic weapons slung over their shoulders. And one by the one, the trowel passed from hand to hand calloused from tilling the Promised Land to cement the symbolic stone in place.

How little have changed, I mused. Thousands of years ago, the great, great, great grandparents of those now building Kibbutz Be’eri worked in exactly the same way as they rebuilt the destroyed walls of Jerusalem under Nehemiah. “Every one of the builders had his sword girded at his side as he built,” (4:18).

Different millennia. Different weapons. But the same enemy, this time attacking under a different alias. And the same target: Israel.

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,” George Santayana warned. That is why Bridges for Peace is here as Israel rebuilds what the enemy tried yet again to destroy. Jew and Gentile together against the enemy. The God of Israel against the father of deception. Yes, Monday marked a new dawn for Kibbutz Be’eri, the first step in a very long journey to coming home. And we—Christians from around the word—are here to help them every step of the way.

Am Israel Chai. The people of Israel lives because the God of Israel lives.

Posted on June 26, 2024

Source: (Bridges for Peace, June 26, 2024)

Photo Credit: Michio Nagata/bridgesforpeace.com