Rona Gerzon ’19

Posted on December 15, 2023

In the last month and a half, since October 7th, I have had feelings and experiences that are new to me. I never thought I would hear about such horrors. I never imagined that these kinds of events would be etched in my heart at such a young age. I could not have imagined I would feel such a great concern for people whom I never met, but I feel so close to.

Since Simchat Torah, I have slowly gotten back to my routine. At first, each day was different. My friends and I volunteered in different projects and agricultural work. But with time, I went back to work, while at the same time everything that happened is always in my head.

I want to share with you a particular moment from my daily life. One day, I went to Tel Aviv, to the place where the families of the hostages are gathered, because I wanted to express my support as much as possible. I sat there, and I held pictures of three children who were hostages, all from the same family – the Brodutch family, who were taken captive with their mother to Gaza, while their father remained in Israel. Suddenly, two men arrived and stood in front of me, looking at the pictures. One of them began to cry, and only after several minutes did I understand that it was the children’s father, Avichai. He said a few words to me and laughed, “They will kill me when they come back and see their pictures everywhere.” I felt like my heart was totally crushed – from worry, from pain, from looking him in the eyes and seeing his helplessness.

Today, this morning, when I am writing about this moment, is the morning after Avichai’s children and wife were freed from captivity and returned to him, after 51 days of pain and anxiety. And my heart is with all of the people who have not yet been reunited with their families.

I am full of anxiety regarding the situation of my dear friends from Bronfman – such sensitive, gentle, good-hearted men, who are fighting evil, who are fighting with tremendous self-sacrifice in Gaza, already for a long time. I miss them so much. I am also full of worry for all of the hostages who have not yet returned to us, to my great sadness. May they all return already.

I want to pray and ask whoever is able to join me in prayer – for the souls of the survivors of the massacre on the kibbutzim and at the music festival, for the families of the survivors, for the families of the soldiers who have fallen and who have been injured. May we all send them light and love.

I also pray that all of us, men and women from all over the world, will soften our hearts, will free ourselves of hatred, and that we will never harden our hearts against the suffering of those who are different from us. I see how much it hurts now to experience the lack of recognition of the pain and suffering that our people is going through. And I know that all people harden their hearts to the pain of the “other.” But I want to pray that it will be different.