Slice of LIFE
13 Heroes of October 7th and its Aftermath
Bruria Efune
The worst of times brings out the best of our people.
The past year has been filled with torrents of heartbreak and trauma for the Jewish people, especially those in Israel. Yet, amidst the horrors, millions of lights shone in the hearts of our people as everyone stepped forward to do whatever they could to help.
The symphony of heroes that arose on October 7th, and in the months since, is enough to sing about endlessly. It's precisely the wide variety of those who stepped forward that makes it so beautiful.
This list is a small sampling of those heroes and a glimpse into why our nation prevails.
Noam Bonfeld
Noam is a young IDF reservist in the special forces. On the morning of October 7th, he was with his new wife, visiting her family in Jerusalem. Immediately after hearing about the terrorist infiltration, Noam grabbed his small handgun and sped home to check on his kibbutz in the Gaza Envelope, Kibbutz Saad. Once he saw that his community was secured, he called his friend in the neighboring kibbutz—Kfar Aza.
Despite warnings that he would be heavily outnumbered by the hundreds of terrorists, Noam sped over to defend the kibbutz. On the way, he met four other IDF reservists and police officers and formed an improvised fighting squad, becoming the first soldiers to enter Kfar Aza.
With a limited supply of bullets, Noam fought off dozens—perhaps into the hundreds—of terrorists, and saved countless lives.
Noam fought until his last bullet, all while whispering Psalm 120 repeatedly. When reinforcements arrived, they supplied him with a uniform and new ammunition, and he led further battles until the early hours of October 8th.
In the aftermath, Noam established a unique special operations unit and has been leading them in battle in Gaza since.
Rachel Goldberg-Polin
Rachel has been dubbed by many as “Mama Rachel” for her likeness to the Jewish matriarch, standing with strength while beseeching G-d under horrific circumstances. On October 7th, after a heroic face-off, Rachel's only son, Hersh, was taken hostage from the Nova Festival, by Hamas terrorists. In a video shared around the world, Hersh was seen with his arm blown off by a grenade, being taken and beaten by the terrorists.
For 330 days, Rachel prayed and campaigned relentlessly for her son and the other hostages' freedom, never giving up hope. Tragically, Hersh was murdered by the terrorists just hours before IDF troops neared the tunnel where he was being held together with five other hostages. Rachel's faith did not shatter, and in a heart-rending speech at her son's funeral, she said, “Finally, my sweet boy, finally, finally, finally, finally, you're free.”
Tova Heller
Tova, a mother of a large family—including two adorable toddlers, is known for her upbeat nature, and popular tours of the Machane Yehuda Shuk in Jerusalem. She is also the wife of an IDF combat officer and rabbi in the reserves. Her husband, Rabbi Betzalel Heller, reported to his unit on October 7th, and minus a few short breaks, has been away from home fighting in the north and in Gaza for the 11 months since.
Being a “reservist wife,” means constantly worrying about her husband's safety, while taking care of her children and household on her own, and still working to keep her business running through the tourism decline. Despite the immense challenges, Tova remains optimistic and focuses her energy on her children and on caring for the other reservist wives from her husband's unit.
Rami Davidian
Rami is a 58-year-old farmer in Moshav Patish, just outside the Gaza Envelope area. He wasn't in an IDF combat unit and had no fighting training, but in the early hours of October 7th, when his friend called and asked him to save a friend's son, Rami jumped into his car and headed straight into the line of fire at the Nova Festival.
On the way, Rami saw hundreds of youths fleeing and learned that something horrible was going on. Upon locating the boy he was looking for, Rami filled up his car with 15 people and drove them back to his home.
Soon, his phone filled with messages from festival-goers who sent him their locations and begged him to rescue them. Rami enlisted the help of his son-in-law and spent the next 48 hours driving back and forth between the battlegrounds and his community, where his neighbors opened their doors to the stranded and traumatized youths.
With his calm demeanor and intimate knowledge of all the backroads in the area, Rami saved over 750 people from the thousands of armed Hamas terrorists.
Menachem Kalmanson
Menachem Kalmenson lives in Otniel, more than 100 kilometers away from Kibbutz Be'eri. But that didn't stop him from jumping into his brother Elchanan's car, along with his nephew Itiel, in the early morning hours of October 7th, to rescue civilians under fire.
The trio went door-to-door, fighting off terrorists and bringing the trapped kibbutz residents out to safety. Each time they exited the kibbutz, they had to make the deliberate decision to return and again risk their lives to save people they had never met.
Often, they'd arrive at a home where the family was hiding in the bomb shelter, holding the door handle down in fear of terrorists. Menachem had to convince them that it was safe to come out—and the only thing that would work was to recite the Shema prayer.
The trio continued until the morning of October 8th, when they entered a home to rescue a family and were ambushed by a terrorist who hid behind a door. Elchanan was sadly killed, and Menachem was injured. The three saved over 100 lives that day.
Youssef Ziadna
Youssef is a Muslim Bedouin minibus driver from the town of Rahat—one of many Muslims who became heroes in the face of terrorism. It started at 1:00 a.m., at the start of October 7th, when he drove Amit Hadar—one of his regular clients—along with 8 of his friends, to the Nova Festival. His plan was to pick them up later that afternoon, at 3:00 p.m.
At 6:30 a.m., Youssef received a frantic call from Amit, asking for help. Youssef assumed it was because of the rockets being launched from Gaza and quickly drove his van towards the festival. He soon found himself dodging bullets from all directions but continued on anyway. Youssef located Amit, and filled his 14-seater with 26 people, before driving off-road to safety in Kibbutz Tze'elim.
Ariel Bilya
Ariel was spending Simchat Torah at his mother's home in Ofakim, with his wife and two children and extended family. When the sirens began on the morning of October 7th, the family of 11 huddled in their bomb shelter until they heard gunshots nearing their home—and then terrorists breaking in.
Ariel grabbed a metal rod and ran to the front door to fend off the terrorists, while the rest of the family climbed out of the bomb shelter window one-by-one, onto their neighbor's roof, and hid in a small enclosure. The family was later rescued from the roof and found that Ariel had been killed by the terrorists, just after he had held them back long enough to save the entire family.
– To Be Continued –
