On October 7, 2023, Kibbutz Be'eri was one of the hardest hit kibbutzim near the border of Gaza. An estimated 340 terrorists invaded the kibbutz in the early morning hours, killing 101 residents and taking 36 hostages. When I entered the kibbutz with a group of people on the Young Israel of Scarsdale Hanukkah mission, I saw broken toys scattered in the yards and burnt homes all around us. Many of the entrances still have posters and photos of those who were murdered within and those who are still missing.
Yarden Tzemach, one of the first core members of Kibbutz Be’eri who returned a week after October 7th to start rebuilding, guided us through the kibbutz and told us the horrific stories of the families that had been murdered in their homes. As we walked through the rubble of broken homes, Yarden described the three generations of his family that built their homes here. His grandfather was one of the first founders of the kibbutz, and Yarden was raised here with his four siblings. His parents, their five children and their families were all living in Be’eri when Hamas attacked. Although Yarden spent years traveling outside of Israel as an agricultural consultant, he always knew that he would eventually return home.
When he returned to Be’eri years ago, Yarden established the mango and avocado agriculture infrastructure at the kibbutz and volunteered on the security team. Shachar, one of his brothers, was also part of the security team and on the morning of October 7th, Yarden was on a trip with friends outside of the kibbutz. Once he heard what was happening he was unable to get past the blockades on the roads to Be’eri. On his phone, Yarden tried the best he could to help coordinate with the other members of the security team and his family to fight against the onslaught of invading terrorists.
His brother Shachar was guarding the kibbutz dental clinic which had become an ad hoc emergency center where several wounded members of the kibbutz lay inside, being treated by a paramedic and a doctor from the kibbutz. After several hours of fighting, Shachar ran out of ammunition and had to retreat into the clinic. Eventually a grenade was thrown into the clinic and everyone inside was killed. Shachar leaves behind his wife Ofri and their two children, Ella, 4 and Netta, 2, as well as his parents Shlomit and Doron and his younger siblings Yarden, Itai, Shai and Ido.
The rest of Yarden’s family all miraculously survived that day. One brother ran over to his sibling’s house which was very close to his. They were hiding together in the shelter when a member of the security forces saw two terrorists from afar on their porch and was able to shoot them. When more terrorists approached the house, they saw the dead bodies and retreated. Yarden was trying to coordinate with the IDF as he directed his autistic brother who lived alone in his own apartment. “I knew he wouldn’t be able to get into a safe room and lock himself inside of it. And I knew he wouldn’t understand exactly what was happening. So I told him to close the curtains and turn off the television and be as quiet as he possibly could.”
Somehow, his brother did not panic. He sat on his couch and waited silently as the two apartments on either side of him were attacked. For some reason, the terrorists skipped over his door. Amidst much shooting and screaming, Yarden’s brother waited by himself in complete silence for 17 hours. “I told him not to make any noise and to stay away from the windows. And he continued to listen to me as I called him throughout the day.”
When Yarden spoke to his parents who lived on the other side of the kibbutz, he told them to find a way to lock the shelter door and to hide in the corners of the room away from the shooting. His parents tied two hiking sticks together to lock the door to their shelter as the terrorists ransacked their home and sat in their living room for over 15 hours before the army arrived. And even after the army was able to make it into their home, it was too dangerous for them to leave until the following morning. The only time Yarden teared up in telling his family’s story was when he described arriving with his surviving family with just the pyjamas they had been wearing to stay in temporary housing near the Dead Sea. They went out to buy socks and underwear and they couldn’t find even one pair of socks in any store because hundreds of people had run out as soon as they heard what happened to buy clothing for them.
Wiping away tears, Yarden said: “Everyone was trying to help us. It was the first time since the attack began that we did not feel alone.”
A week after October 7th, Yarden and a group of survivors from Be’eri began traveling 90 minutes each day to work on the kibbutz despite the all-encompassing grief that surrounded them. They were determined to rebuild their lives on the kibbutz. Next to the kindergarten building full of dozens of bullet holes, the sound of the burnt houses being demolished to make way for new homes echoes across the kibbutz. Yarden looks across the remains of the playground towards the trees lit up by the warmth of the morning sun and says, “We’re not giving up. Not ever. The kibbutz is building new homes every day and repairing its clinics and schools. We hope to be finished rebuilding in 2026 when most of Be’eri’s residents plan to return home.”
On our next visit, we hope to return to this playground and hear the sound of the children’s laughter ringing across the kibbutz once again.
