hostages

How hostages survive

Dr. Ofer Merin, director general of Shaare Zedek Hospital, spoke at the event via video. He was expected to be in Vancouver in person but stayed in Jerusalem due to intelligence that Iran might strike Israel during the time he was scheduled to be away. (Adele Lewin Photography)

A top Mossad psychologist who has interviewed hostages released from captivity in Gaza explained to a Vancouver audience this month the traits that allow some people to survive and overcome unimaginable conditions.

Dr. Glenn Cohen, who made aliyah in 1982 after growing up in New York, served seven years in the Israeli Air Force as a pilot, then 25 years in the Mossad. His reserve duty has been in the hostage negotiation unit. He spoke at Schara Tzedeck Synagogue Nov. 10 as part of a national tour titled Voices of Resilience. The Vancouver event marked the inauguration of the Canadian Shaare Zedek Hospital Foundation Western region. The hospital’s director general, Dr. Ofer Merin, spoke via video from Jerusalem.

The first hostages to be released after Oct. 7 were vital to intelligence-gathering for Israel’s military, but Cohen quickly realized that the psychological well-being of the former hostages presented challenges to obtaining the information that could help locate and free others.

“We have two goals here,” said Cohen. “One is to get lifesaving, critical intelligence about the other hostages. But, at the same time, these people came out of captivity. We have to give them a soft landing and tender loving care.”

Cohen wrote a protocol to receive civilians from situations like these.

When more than 100 hostages were released through an agreement last November, Cohen and his team of 30 psychologists met each one and debriefed them.

“The first thing we asked them was, who did you see?” Cohen said. “What condition physically, mentally? And, with this information, we brought a sign of life for some people who had no idea if their loved one was alive or not.”

Some news was good, while other reports confirmed the worst fears of some families.

Cohen has trained soldiers for the potential of being held hostage and he was surprised that, without this sort of training, human instinct told some of the hostages how to respond.

A core trait among those who successfully survive such scenarios, he said, is hopeful certainty that they will be released. Too much optimism, though, can lead to crushing depression when hopes are not met. Those who are certain of imminent release or rescue may succumb to heartbreak and even give up on life as days and weeks tick by, he said.

It is necessary, Cohen said, to balance hope with realistic expectations.

A 16-year-old boy who was among the released hostages remembered the story of Gilad Shalit. The boy told himself: “How long was he in captivity? Five years. I’m in for five years. A day less is a bonus.”

“A 16-year-old kid,” said Cohen. “Wow. What type of resilience is that? He didn’t go through any POW training. He was just a 16-year-old Israeli boy and he’s got that in his DNA.”

Maintaining any sense of control or normalcy is a small victory. Some hostages counted the days and weeks by listening to the muezzin, the Muslim call to prayer, which is different on Fridays. A seven-year-old boy was given three dates to eat each day, and he kept the seeds to measure how many days he had been in captivity. Others made fun of their captors, secretly referring to them by disparaging names.

Generally speaking, Cohen explained, it is psychologically better for a hostage to be held with other captives, even if underground without natural light, than to be held above ground alone.

Also advantageous, Cohen said, is recognizing the captors as human beings.

“There is another person on the other side,” he said. “Even though we call Hamas animals or … monsters or whatever, the point is, they are human beings who can be influenced. When you realize that, that this is an interpersonal situation, that gives you power.”

Cohen shared one story of hostages who told their captors, “Put your gun down, you’re scaring the children,” and they did.

In another instance, a woman with a cardiac condition asked to get some exercise by walking down the tunnel she was held in. She came across two other hostages and asked why they couldn’t be brought together. They were.

“A lot of the hostages actually managed to bond with their captors and because of that bond they survived better,” said Cohen.

News of such incidents has led to unfortunate events, he said.

“I heard not too long ago that hostages were cursed on the streets of Israel because they talked about their relationship with the hostages and didn’t call them animals,” Cohen said. “I feel like I have a mission now to educate people to realize that if people are speaking like that, as a hostage, it means it’s a healthy survival mechanism and God forbid we be critical of any of them.”

photo - Dr. Glenn Cohen speaks with an audience member at Schara Tzedeck Synagogue Nov. 10. He was in Vancouver as part of a national tour titled Voices of Resilience — Dr. Glenn Cohen speaks with an audience member at Schara Tzedeck Synagogue Nov. 10. He was in Vancouver as part of a national tour titled Voices of Resilience. *(photo by Pat Johnson)*

Merin, the director general of Shaare Zedek Hospital, was expected to be present in Vancouver but remained in Jerusalem due to intelligence that Iran might strike Israel during the time he was scheduled to be away. Merin also serves as head of the medical intelligence committee involved with the current hostage situation in Gaza.

“The day after the war started, we opened a designated emergency room just to treat the many, many hundreds of patients who came in the first week in need of mental health support,” he said, estimating that tens of thousands of Israelis will be diagnosed with some form of post-traumatic stress disorder in the coming months.

Amid the extreme physical and mental health demands, the hospital has also faced human resources challenges, with hundreds of staff members called up for duty and 15 experiencing the deaths of immediate family members during the war. The anxiety of having family on the frontlines adds to the stress for everyone, said Merin. The multicultural nature of the staff, which roughly mirrors the demographic makeup of Jerusalem, is also a factor.

“How do we preserve the cohesion between these people?” he asked. “This is a major daily challenge in times of normal emotions among staff people, how to keep this amazing cohesion of people who are working for years, for decades, shoulder to shoulder together. How to keep it during times of war is a major challenge.”

Hinda Silber, national president, and Rafi Yablonsky, national executive director, of the Canadian Shaare Zedek Hospital Foundation, traveled from Toronto for the event, which was co-chaired by Dr. Marla Gordon and Dr. Arthur Dodek. The evening was presented by Canadian Shaare Zedek Hospital Foundation Western region, in partnership with Congregation Schara Tzedeck. The Jewish Medical Association of BC was the educational sponsor, with King David High School and Hillel BC participating in the program. Schara Tzedeck’s Rabbi Andrew Rosenblatt welcomed the audience.

“Since Oct. 7, the mental health landscape in Israel has been profoundly affected,” said Ilan Pilo, Western region director of the organization. “The nation is navigating an unprecedented surge in psychological distress as individuals and communities cope with the aftermath of trauma and uncertainty.”

Proceeds from the evening will support a new mental health facility.

When new is also ancient

It turns out that a war and a worldwide increase in antisemitism may cause more Jewish people to return to Jewish spaces. Some Jewish atheists try out fasting for Yom Kippur. New faces appear at synagogue. Lectures and events that were sparsely attended in the past seem to have more takers. If you’re a regular in a Jewish community, you may have seen this already. There are many reasons, including a need to find community and avoid antisemitism, or to return to religious practice after dealing with so much death. For those who were already attending or even occasionally attending Jewish services or events, things have also changed.

My twins had their b’nai mitzvah in June. I’d long thought of how cool it would be if they could help fill out a minyan more often (a group of 10 needed for communal prayer). However, there have been obstacles. Our congregation’s building was under renovation. The temporary spot, while lovely and hospitable, required a car ride.

This fall, the congregation moved back to its building and we live in easy walking distance. My kids attend public school and didn’t have Sukkot off. Yet, when one kid asked to attend minyan on Hoshanah Rabbah, the last day of Sukkot, I immediately said yes. He would have “an appointment” that morning, according to the attendance sheet, and arrive a little late. We figured, no need to claim a religious holiday (antisemitism concerns, again), but that’s what it was, of course.

Hoshanah Rabbah was a new experience for us, though it’s an ancient ritual. It involves circling the pulpit (a stand-in for the Temple altar) seven times, with lulav and etrog in hand. Marking the end of the fall holidays, it’s a last chance to ask for forgiveness and a better year.

Traditions differ about what is said during this ritual, but our congregation read piyyut, which are traditional poems, a part of Jewish liturgy that often includes acrostics (poems that use the alphabet). Some of the piyyut are very old. I found myself praying that my fruit trees don’t get fungus or that my fields wouldn’t be cursed. It might seem funny to ask for some of these things, but my city backyard has young apple, apricot, plum and cherry trees. I don’t want fungus!

It was especially poignant to pray – in the “Foundation Stone (“Even Shetiyah”) poem – about “the goodness of Lebanon, beautiful place, joy of the world.” This came straight out of the Siddur Ashkenaz (the Ashkenazi prayerbook), with specific quotes from Isaiah, Psalms and Lamentations. Our historic relationship with Lebanon is a rich one. Many of us, Israelis and diaspora Jews, would love to visit Beirut, the “Paris of the Middle East.” Some of us have ancestors who lived there, and we would like to see where they grew up or spent time. This urge isn’t new; our desire to have a good connection to Lebanon as a neighbour is ancient.

Then, we all were handed bundles of willows. We beat these on the lectern with force while saying, “Save your people and bless your heritage, care for them and carry them forever.” It was primal, cathartic, and very messy. There were willow leaves everywhere.

My kid was only a little late to first period art class. I went home in wonder. Later, I joked with one of my professors from graduate school, Jack Sasson, who I respect deeply, about how, for me, this previously unknown Jewish ritual felt stirring and exotic. He suggested that paganism still has something to teach us. The beating of the willows is ancient indeed. It’s a namburbi ritual from Mesopotamia, he said. When I remarked that I could get into this paganism thing, his reply left me laughing. “Ishtar will welcome you.”

I was still reflecting on all this when watching some new friends with young kids dancing on the evening of Simchat Torah. To help everyone through the first yahrzeit of Oct. 7/Simchat Torah, our rabbi dedicated each hakkafah (circuit around the room with the Torahs) to a different group: first responders, those who had died in the past year, the unity of the People of Israel, etc. The next afternoon, the kids came over for snacks and to play. One of the parents asked me why there was so much reference to Israel stuff. I realized that here, too, was a confluence of old customs and new experience.

I explained that some of these prayers, for instance, the prayer for the hostages, weren’t new. The Talmud, codified in 500 CE, discusses the topic of hostages at length. The first instance of the prayer for the redemption of hostages that we use today was documented in the Mahzor Vitry, named for Simhah b. Samuel of Vitry, a French talmudist who died in 1105 CE.

I reminded them that many present at the synagogue were in mourning for people who had died. While celebrating old holidays, we need to acknowledge the current situation. These days, services usually include prayers for the state of Israel and the Israeli army, too. None of these are newly written prayers.

Of course, Sukkot itself, a harvest festival that required Israelites to go to the Temple in Jerusalem – last destroyed in 70 CE – is also all about Israel.

I drew a few conclusions from these social encounters. First, for those who may feel jaded and aware of Jewish yearly events, there’s always something new to learn. For me, it was the primal connection to Mesopotamia, namburbi ritual and, yes, Ishtar, the goddess herself. For those who hadn’t been at synagogue for some time, there were many questions, new encounters and experiences, too. What unites it all is a realization that, while our individual learning curve might be new to us, the rituals, the prayers, and the historic connections to Israel are ancient.

For all of us, in a time when political rhetoric seeks to disconnect diaspora Jews from the land of Israel, Sukkot and Simchat Torah were a powerful – and timely – reminder of our past and our future, together.

Joanne Seiff has written regularly for the Winnipeg Free Press and various Jewish publications. She is the author of three books, including From the Outside In: Jewish Post Columns 2015-2016, a collection of essays available for digital download or as a paperback from Amazon. Check her out on Instagram @yrnspinner or at joanneseiff.blogspot.com.

לא רואים סוף למשבר

ישראלים רבים לאור אירועי השבעה באוקטובר הפכו להיות פסימים ובצדק. הם לא רואים שום תמונה אופטימית באופק ופתרונות לסיום המשבר הבלתי נגמר

האחראי הישיר למשבר בישראל הוא ראש הממשלה בנימין נתניהו, שעושה הכל כדי להמשיך בתפקידו ולא מעניין אותו המחיר הכבד לכך. נתניהו כיום הוא אחד המנהיגים השנואים בעולם, כולל במרבית מדינות המערב וכן בישראל. היום רבים מבינים מיהו האיש, כיצד הוא פועל ומה האינטרסים שלו. מצער שהשבעה באוקטובר האירו בצורה רבה עד כמה ישראל לא היתה מוכנה, ועד כמה נתניהו מסוכן ולא יקח אחריות על מעשיו ומחדליו הרבים

בישראל העדיפו להגן על ההתנחלויות בשטחים הכבושים ואף לעבות אותן במקום להגן על גבולות המדינה. העדיפות ניתנה למתנחלים על חשבון תושבי ישראל. זו הקונספציה שנתניהו הוביל וזה מחדל אדיר שהוא לא יוכל להימלט ממנו

יש לא מעט שנוטים להעריץ מנהיגים שזה מנהג לא בריא שיכול להפוך למסוכן, כאשר מדובר באישים כמו נתניהו ודונלד טראמפ. הערצה לנתניהו לאורך השנים הרבות שבה הוא מעורב בפוליטיקה הישראלית, הפכה את תומכיו לעיוורים ואת נתניהו לנוכל. אהוד אולמרט נכנס לכלא על עבירות פחותות בהרבה מאלה של נתניהו, שמתכחש להן כמובן. נתניהו המכהן בתפקידוכשבעה עשרה שנים צבר עבירות רבות בתחומים שונים. הוא הפך לאיש עשיר, הוא מחזיק במספר נכסים וחשבונות בנק מנופחים. נתניהו ומשפחתו חיים ברמת חיים גבוהה והחשבונות מוטלים על משלם המיסים הישראלי

לאור שנותיו בפוליטיקה הבויל נתניהו מהלכים מסוכנים ביותר. הוא הוביל את ההסתה הרבתי שהביאה לרצח של יצחק רבין, הוא הוביל תוכניות רבות להרחבת והוספת ההתנחלויות בשטחים שפוגעות קשות בעתיד של ישראל והפלסטינים. הוא לחץ על טראמפ לבטל את הסכם הגרעין עם איראן – כאשר המומחים לנושאי ביטחון בישראל טוענים שמדובר במהלך שגוי ומסוכן לישראל. נתניהו גם איפשר העברת כסף רב מקטאר לחמאס, ששימש לחימושו בממדים אדירים. עדיין לא ברור האם לנתניהו היה גם רווח אישי מהעברות כספים אלה

נתניהו בימי שלטונו – דאג במדיניות ההפרד ומשול שלו כמו דיקטטורים – ליצור וללבות שנאת אחים בתוך ישראל. המצב היום בחברה הישראלית הוא כה חמור שכבר אי אפשר לגשר על הפערים בין תומכי נתניהו למתנגדיו. התעמולה השיקרית המופצת על ידיי נתניהו, בנו יאיר ומקורבים אחרים ומכונה “מכונת הרעל” רק מוסיפה שמן רותח לסכסוך הפנימי בישראל. הגיעו הדברים לידי אבסורד כאשר תומכי נתניהו מאשימים את משפחות החטופים כאילו הן שייכים לשמאל. לא מעט משפחות החטופים הוכו ואויימו על ידי תומכי נתניהו. ומה תומכיו אומרים לישראלים יוצאי אירופה: תחזרו לאירופה כדי שהיטלר יחסל אתכם. דוגמאות אלה מוכיחות שמאז שנתניהו השתלט על ישראל, המדינה החלה להתפרק והתהליך המדאיג הזה רק מתעצם

תומכי נתניהו מעריצים דמות בעייתית לא פחות והיא טראמפ. הם מאמינים כי רק טראמפ ידאג לישראל. לעומתו המועמדת השנייה לנשיאות בארה”ב, קמלה האריס, לא תדאג לישראל. הישראלים התומכים בטראמפ עיוורים למעשיו המסוכנים ורצונו להפוך לדיקטטור. כידוע הישראלים ונתניהו בראשם לא מסתכלים על התמונה הכוללת, אלה רק על היום ומחר. מבחינתם טראמפ יפתור את הבעיות של ישראל היום ומחר. הם לא קולטים עד כמה טראמפ מסוכן לארה”ב ולמערב, ולכן גם לישראל. אם טראמפ יחזור לשלטון יחליש הדבר את ארה”ב וזה בדיוק מה שרוצים ברוסיה ובסין. בישראל כיוון שלא חושבים על העתיד לא מבינים עד כמה ארה”ב חלשה תחליש גם את ישראל

Community marks Oct. 7

Several hundred held vigil on the Burrard Street Bridge at sundown Oct. 6. Another vigil took place at the Vancouver Art Gallery at the same time. (photo by Pat Johnson)

The youngest victim of the Oct. 7 pogrom was born and died that day.

At a moving ceremony at Schara Tzedeck Synagogue Monday night, more than 1,400 Jewish community members and allies came together to mark the anniversary of the worst terror attacks in Israel’s history. Another 700 watched a livestream online.

Rabbi Philip Gibbs of West Vancouver’s Congregation Har El shared the story of the youngest victim.

At 5:30 a.m., Sujood Abu Karinat, a Bedouin Israeli, went into labour. Her husband Triffy began driving them to the hospital, but sirens also began.

“Two vans appeared and tried to box them in,” said Gibbs. Triffy was able to swerve and avoid the ambush but a bullet pierced Sujood’s belly.

“Though they were able to get away, soon the car stalled before an intersection and they were able to ask for some help from some of the other local Bedouins,” he said. “But, again, the white van appeared and terrorists fired, ignoring their pleas in Arabic to leave them alone and, again, Sujood received another bullet in the stomach.”

When they finally arrived at the hospital, doctors detected a fetal heartbeat. The bullets had pierced the baby’s leg and, in the process, protected Sujood’s vital organs. The baby was successfully delivered and bandaged.

“After hearing this news, Sujood fell back asleep to recover. But, that evening, the baby passed away,” said Gibbs.

“Sujood never saw her daughter, unable to bear the sight of her dead firstborn.”

Schara Tzedeck’s Rabbi Andrew Rosenblatt, who introduced the program and speakers, contextualized the commemoration as an opportunity to “preserve names and to preserve stories.”

In addition, he said, the community gathers to ensure that people do not ignore a world “where children are ripped from their parents’ arms, where children and the aged are taken hostage, where young women are slaughtered and dragged through the streets to be spit upon by a jeering public.”

Rabbi Dan Moskovitz of Temple Sholom spoke of Vivian Silver, the Winnipeg-born-and-raised peace activist whose burned bones were found in her safe room. World media eulogized Silver, a cofounder of the 50,000-member Women Wage Peace, as an irrepressible force and one of Israel’s best-known advocates for peace.

Jason Rivers remembered his cousin, Adi Vital-Kaploun, another Canadian-Israeli who was killed on Oct. 7. Vital-Kaploun received the highest marks ever attained at Ben-Gurion University, he said, and, on Oct. 7, a lab was named in her honour.

“If you believe in miracles, they sometimes do happen,” said Rivers. While Adi was murdered, her 3-year-old, Negev, and 6-month-old, Eshel, were inexplicably released. Adi was later found by the Israel Defence Forces – she had been killed by multiple bullets and her body booby-trapped with grenades.

“She was identified by her wedding ring,” said Rivers.

Daphna Kedem, who has organized weekly rallies at the Vancouver Art Gallery since the hours after the attack, said, “The past year has been unbearable.”

She said, “It is inconceivable that 101 hostages, our loved ones, our family, our members, our children, our parents, our grandparents, remain captive in the hands of the terror organization Hamas, held in appalling conditions.”

The local community’s rabbis and cantors chanted the prayer for hostages.

Lana Marks Pulver, chair of the board of the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver, and Ezra Shanken, Federation’s chief executive officer, spoke of the connections between Israel and diaspora Jews.

Pulver remembered Ben Mizrachi, the young Vancouver medic who died heroically at the Nova music festival when he returned to help a friend who had been shot. He had earned the nickname “savta” from friends, Hebrew for “grandma,” because he was always helping and caring for others. Shanken noted that a plaque in Mizrachi’s honour was unveiled earlier that day at his alma mater, King David High School, and that Federation has nominated Mizrachi for Canada’s highest civilian decoration for heroism. At Schara Tzedeck, a Torah scroll is being refurbished in his memory.

Eli Cohen, a friend of Ben Mizrachi and who accompanied the chevra kadisha to identify Mizrachi’s body, recited the Kaddish in his memory.

photo - Several hundred held vigil on the Burrard Street Bridge at sundown Oct. 6 — Several hundred held vigil on the Burrard Street Bridge at sundown Oct. 6. *(photo by Pat Johnson)*

Flavia Markman, one of the organizers of the vigils that take place on Vancouver bridges, shared the story of Aner Shapira.

Shapira, a member of the IDF’s elite Nahal Brigade, was attending the Nova music festival and he took shelter with a group of others. He was the last to enter the shelter and told the others he was in Nahal; he assured them the military would be there soon to rescue them. Across several heroic minutes that were caught by a car’s dashcam and are available online, Hamas shot bullets and threw grenades into the shelter.

“You can see,” Markman said of the video, “after the terrorists threw the grenades into the shelter, Aner threw them back out. One, two, three, four times, five, six, seven.…”

The eighth grenade exploded in his hand, killing him.

“At least seven people who were hiding in the shelter with Shapira survived the attack,” Markman said. One of them called Shapira an angel who saved their lives. Israeli poet Zur Erlich has written a tribute to Shapira, likening the eight grenades to the eight candles on the Hanukkah menorah.

Rabbi Carey Brown of Temple Sholom shared the story of Capt. Shir Eilat, a 20-year-old Combat Intelligence Corps commander who died alongside 14 of her female comrades at Nahal Oz surveillance outpost. Five women from her unit were taken hostage to Gaza.

“Shir was a hero in her final moments, in an unbelievable manner,” according to survivors who were there, said Brown. “Shir stayed calm, worried about everyone, protected them, and calmed them down. She put herself aside to be a presence of safety for them.”

Rabbi Philip Bregman, rabbi emeritus of Temple Sholom, spoke of the 1,000 people he and his wife Cathy, escorted to Israel over their 33 years of service to the temple. In Israel, he said, they would pay for meals of IDF soldiers and the grateful but baffled uniformed young people would ask, Why? Bregman said it was impossible for relatively safe Canadian Jews to adequately thank Israeli soldiers for defending their people.

Rabbi Susan Tendler of Beth Tikvah noted that there were at least 1,200 people in the sanctuary – the approximate number of people murdered on Oct. 7. Each attendee had been handed a card with a victim’s name and, often, a photograph. People stood at different times, quietly reciting the prayer and invoking the name of “their” martyr while musician Eric Wilson played cello.

Rabbi Hannah Dresner of Or Shalom reflected on the El Moleh Rachamim prayer and presented an interpretation of the prayer in English before Cantor Yaacov Orzech chanted the traditional version. Her Or Shalom colleague, Rabbi Arik Labowitz, led the congregation in Oseh Shalom, the prayer for peace.

“Perhaps, like many of you, it’s been difficult to say the Oseh Shalom this past year knowing that peace and security can sometimes be at odds with each other,” said Labowitz. “Yet the hope for peace is not shaped by our feelings about the present situation and about the history behind it. The hope for peace is our moral imperative. It is the most essential prayer of our people.… May we never give up hope and may we work toward that peace in the name of those we have lost and for the sake of those who are yet to be born.”

Rabbi Jonathan Infield of Beth Israel, and head of the Rabbincal Association of Vancouver, reflected on the Zionist and Israeli anthem “Hatikvah” (“The Hope”), which was adopted at the 18th Zionist conference in Prague, in 1933 – the “chai” conference, in the year the Nazis came to power in Germany. He spoke of his hope that the grandchildren of the current generation would never have to attend a ceremony for victims of terrorism.

The Monday event was attended by many elected officials from all levels of government.

Humanizing hostages’ plight

Rabbi Jonathan Infeld, left, in conversation with Thomas Hand at Congregation Beth Israel. (Adele Lewin Photography)

Emily Hand was a healthy 8-year-old girl with chubby cheeks on Oct. 7, 2023, when she was abducted by Hamas terrorists from a sleepover at a friend’s home on Kibbutz Be’eri. When she was released, 50 days later, she was a pale, gaunt 9-year-old who would not speak above the faintest whisper.

Emily and her dad, Thomas Hand, were in Vancouver this month, where the father was part of Congregation Beth Israel’s Selichot program Sept. 28. He spoke with the Independent in advance of the conversation he had with Rabbi Jonathan Infeld at the synagogue.

On Oct. 7 last year, Emily was at the home of her friend Hila Rotem-Shoshani. After the terrorists invaded the kibbutz and the murderous rampage subsided, Thomas Hand had no idea where his daughter was. It was almost midnight that evening when the Israel Defence Forces made it to Be’eri and rescued the survivors. In the chaos of the moment, Hand was told that his daughter was dead.

His immediate response was relief.

“It’s a terrible thing to say,” said Hand, “but I was more relieved and at peace that she was at peace and not being terrorized or beaten or threatened or in the hands of the Hamas.”

Eventually, it would become known that, of Be’eri’s approximately 1,100 residents, about 100 were murdered and about 50 taken hostage to Gaza. Be’eri’s surviving residents were removed to a location near the Dead Sea.

After a few days, Hand was informed that there was no evidence that Emily had been murdered. Her remains were not found and neither was any of her DNA. Hand has no explanation for how the misunderstanding occurred. His former wife, however, was found dead. (Emily’s mother died of cancer when Emily was 2.)

Now, Emily was officially missing.

A kibbutz member mentioned to Hand that they had seen Raaya Rotem “and her two children” led away at gunpoint. Hand knew that Rotem has only one daughter – Emily’s friend Hila – and that was his confirmation that Emily had been abducted alive.

“When they told me that she was actually alive, I was in the nightmare of not knowing what the hell was going to happen to her,” he said.

It is now known that Emily, Hila and Raaya were taken to Gaza, moved from location to location for the first couple of days and then held in a house along with several other hostages.

They lived in constant terror and were given very little food – a quarter of a pita a day sometimes, though they could smell the plentiful food their captors were cooking. Their accommodations were squalid, they were watched while using the toilet and warned to remain totally silent.

Doing what he could to raise global awareness of his daughter’s situation, as well as those of the other hostages, Hand launched a campaign, beginning with a trip to Ireland. Hand had made aliyah from Ireland and Emily, as a result, is a dual citizen. Hand then traveled to the United States and appeared on American TV, further humanizing the plight of the hostages and their families.

In November last year, during the temporary ceasefire, Emily was one of 105 hostages freed. She was released along with Hila. Hila’s mother Raaya was released a couple of days later.

Hand has no clear memories of their reunion, except that he would not allow himself to believe it would happen until they locked eyes.

“Anything could go wrong,” he said of the temporary ceasefire negotiations and promised release of the hostages. “Not until the very last second did I really believe that she was coming back, only when I saw her eyes.”

The joy of reunion was mixed with the harsh reality of what she had endured.

“She came back a different child,” Hand said, reflecting on her transformation from an innocent 8-year-old to a much-matured child shaped by trauma. The changes were most immediately noticeable physically. “Her cheekbones were sharp, her body much thinner.”

The effects of being threatened for more than two months to remain silent did not dissipate immediately either.

“When she came back, she was whispering, just moving her lips,” he said. “Her confidence was shattered.”

Since Emily’s release, the Hands – she has an older brother, 29, and a sister, 27 – have been working to help her recover. Therapies, including horse riding, dog training, theatre and singing, have played a crucial role in rebuilding her confidence. Regular psychological support in Tel Aviv, despite being a two-hour drive, has also been essential.

“She’s very strong, very resilient,” said her father.

The Hand family has relocated to a semi-permanent residence near Be’er Sheva while they await the reconstruction of Be’eri, to which he is determined to return.

“It’s been my home for over 30 years. I raised my eldest kids and Emily there,” he said. “It’s paradise. I want to go back home.”

Not all kibbutz members feel the pull to return, he acknowledged, though he estimates that 75% of the surviving members hope to rebuild there. Security, of course, is the foremost concern.

“The government needs to be different, and Hamas needs to be as weak as we can possibly make them because I need to feel safe in my own home before I would ever bring Emily back there again,” he said.

Reflecting on the international response to the crisis, Hand expressed frustration.

“Why is the UN or all the governments in the world not putting the pressure on Hamas to stop?” he asked.

To critics of Israel’s actions in Gaza, he is defiant. “We have to defend ourselves, and we will defend ourselves,” he said, “no matter what the world says or thinks.”

As Emily continues her recovery, Hand remains focused on a mission.

“Our primary concern now is getting the hostages back,” he said.

A different new year

The experience of the Jewish calendar is ever-changing because, while the week’s parshah is the same every year, the people experiencing it have changed. This seems especially true for the year just passed.

Pesach held stark resonance this spring, as Jews worldwide held in our hearts the captives in Gaza and pain around the ongoing war. Every happy moment in the calendar was darkened by the shadow of Oct. 7. Every solemn moment seemed laden with deeper significance.

It is a rare Jew whose life has not changed dramatically since that day. Israelis and Jews had ripped from us a sense of historical, collective and personal security that the Jewish state was supposed to provide. While 75 years of conflict and insurrection have reminded us that Jews have never been entirely free from the hatred of others, the collective defence embodied in the state of Israel massively reduced the vulnerability experienced by previous generations. We also understand that this security has come at a cost and that the last 75 years have also been a source of suffering for our Palestinian neighbours and cousins. This is a juxtaposition we struggle with daily.

And then Oct. 7 ripped away our sense of communal security in a profound way. For Jews worldwide, it provoked what can be considered significant intergenerational trauma, recalling times when soldiers and their civilian collaborators could enter Jewish homes, perpetrate atrocities, annihilate families, separate us from our loved ones, loot our possessions, force conversions, exile and expel us, and take us captive.

Worldwide today, Jews have experienced a different, related trauma. In too many cases, Jews in Canada and elsewhere have been betrayed by our neighbours, let down by our ostensible friends and had our awareness wrenched open to the potential for abrupt changes in political climates.

This will be the first Rosh Hashanah since Oct. 7. It will be followed by the anniversary of the terror attacks, a commemoration that will be added to the black dates of Jewish history over millennia.

Day after day we hope for the return of the captives, and it will be a joyous moment when surviving hostages come back home. Between this writing and your reading, may that dream have become real. If not by then, let us hope for their redemption by the new year or certainly before the calendar turns on a full annual cycle since their capture. Every moment is a moment too long for their captivity. And every moment is a moment too long for continued war, and the destruction experienced by innocent Palestinians who are caught in it.

We can all well remember the holy days of just a few years ago when a global pandemic kept us from celebrating in person with our loved ones. For most of us, that forced separation has passed. That togetherness is reason enough to celebrate. Even so, it is precisely the idea of togetherness – when we know that so many families have been torn apart either temporarily or permanently – that adds sad resonance to our own sense of unity.

While we mourn those who will never again celebrate with their loved ones and we hope and pray for the return of the hostages so that they can rejoice in freedom with those they love, we should also take special appreciation for the gifts of those with whom we gather.

In Jewish fashion, the changed reality in which we find ourselves is already being woven into a sort of makeshift liturgy, as more than one article in this special issue of the paper describes. Thoughtful people have developed ways to memorialize and hold spiritual space for the hostages and all affected by this historical moment.

As we complete another cycle of the calendar, the immutable foundations of our tradition provide strength and familiarity. At the same time, as individuals and as a people, we are profoundly changed.

A solemn anniversary

The Vancouver and Victoria Jewish communities will each hold a memorial ceremony Oct. 7 to honour and remember the victims of the attacks on Israel a year ago.

Led by the Rabbinical Association of Vancouver (RAV) and in partnership with the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver and many others, an evening event in Vancouver will be an opportunity for people of all ages to come together.

A special gathering for young adults will take place from 6 to 7 p.m., providing a space for reflection and connection. The main ceremony will begin at 7 p.m., and will include what is being described as a poignant tribute led by our community’s rabbis. The location of the event will be emailed upon registration. Register at jewishvancouver.com/october-7th-memorial.

Following the ceremony, Jewish Family Services will offer “living rooms,” in both Hebrew and English, where attendees can share their thoughts and find comfort. An Israeli sing-along will also take place, with the intention of helping participants find strength in unity and to support one another.

Relatives of Oct. 7 victims will present representative stories of the heroes and victims and organizers are planning interactive elements so participants can actively memorialize. There is an intention to ensure that all the victims’ names, as well as fallen soldiers’ names, can be articulated in the course of the program.

Politics – local or international – are to be kept out of the program. Elected officials may attend but the focus is on memorializing and honouring the dead.

While Oct. 7 created an unprecedented new world, in many ways, there is a precedent for the sort of memorial event planned, according to Beth Israel’s Rabbi Jonathan Infeld, who is head of RAV.

The Yizkor service will be the template for this commemoration, said Infeld.

“We know that the Yizkor service is something that the synagogue-going Jew can relate to, but we know that not all the members of our community go to synagogue on a regular basis,” he said. “We want to make sure that it works for everyone. Yizkor is the framework, but there will be creative pieces in it as well that will work for everyone in the community.”

As the anniversary approaches, Infeld said the community should be “thinking first and foremost of the memory of those who were murdered in this horrific, horrible terror attack.”

There are 97 hostages still being held in captivity in Gaza of the more than 240 Israelis and others kidnapped by Hamas on Oct. 7. (Four other hostages have been held since 2014/15.)

People need to be reminded of the absolute necessity to support the people of Israel at this moment, and to support fellow Jews here in Canada and around the world against the rise of antisemitism, said Infeld. “We would like to see everyone really rally together and gather together to support each other and to show our support for Israel and the Jewish people, and to comfort each other as well.”

A memorial in Victoria will take place at the same time on Oct. 7, at the Esquimalt Gorge Pavilion. Pre-registration is mandatory at jewishvictoria.ca.

On Sept. 28, as part of Beth Israel’s Selichot service, Rabbi Infeld will lead a conversation with Thomas Hand, whose daughter, Emily, was a hostage in Gaza. Emily, who turned 9 in captivity, was kidnapped along with her friend and the friend’s mother. The two girls were released in November. Hand will talk about the “spiritual, emotional and moral roller coaster” of his daughter’s captivity and eventual freedom.

Setting intentions, priorities

This year, the High Holidays fall later than usual, with Rosh Hashanah just a few days before the anniversary of Oct. 7, 2023 – the most tragic date in the history of modern-day Israel.

The High Holidays offer special opportunities for reflection and renewal, reaffirming what matters most, pursuing positive change and strengthening our connections with others.

As we look back on 5784, we should examine our own actions, reflecting honestly on our challenges and successes, and seeking lessons we can take from our experiences to carry into the year ahead. It’s a time to consider which elements of our lives and our relationships with others need improvement.

This leads naturally to an opportunity to contemplate our intentions and priorities and plan for the future. It is a means of charting a course that aligns with our values and contributes to the strength of our families and our communities.

While Canada remains one of the safest places for Jewish communities, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs’ advocacy – especially since Oct. 7 – has been fueled by a profound dedication to tackling the disturbing rise in antisemitism.

The alarming surge in antisemitism, both online and on the streets, has been deeply shocking. Yet, it has also driven us to forge essential connections with all levels of government, law enforcement, educational institutions and community organizations representing the majority of Canada’s Jewish population and other vulnerable minorities.

Just as the High Holidays are arriving late this year, so too are long-awaited protections from the government. We have seen some progress, but there is much to be done to ensure “bubble legislation” (safe-access laws to protect defined areas from protests, harassment and hate) becomes common, if not ubiquitous, across Canada. Vaughan, Ont., has adopted an encouraging example, and many other municipalities have expressed serious interest in following suit, but there is still much work ahead.

Federal online hate legislation has been in development under various ministries for years, and we are not backing down on contributing to and securing this fundamental legislation that will enhance security measures.

The accusations against Israel of war crimes from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) are both absurd and detrimental to Canada and the West’s long-standing policies aimed at achieving peace in the Middle East. If the Canadian government wants to rescue the reputation of the ICJ, it must denounce this evidence of its politicization.

Antisemitism is not a “Jewish” problem. Jew-hatred poses a grave danger to all who cherish our core Canadian values. We know from history that, wherever antisemitism is allowed to thrive unchecked, social malaise and political oppression follow. Its defeat requires a concentrated, multi-pronged approach involving many cultural, political, ethnic and faith organizations, as well as individuals from across the country. Together, we are working to combat antisemitism while building relationships with many partner groups, promoting the Canadian values of dialogue and understanding, tolerance and respect.

As Canada’s special envoy on preserving Holocaust remembrance and combatting antisemitism, Deborah Lyons, wrote in a July op-ed in the National Post: “Jews did not create antisemitism and … it is not on them to fight it alone.”

As we approach the sad and sombre anniversary of the Oct. 7 massacre, many will join us in honouring the memories of those murdered by Hamas and in praying for the safe return of the hostages and for the restoration of peace to the region. And, if we are so blessed to have welcomed home the hostages by the time you are reading this, we’ll have more to celebrate as we begin the new year.

In the meantime, I wish you a sweet, healthy, peaceful and happy 5785.

Judy Zelikovitz is vice-president, university and local partner services, at the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs.

Remembering the six

Clockwise from top left: Carmel Gat, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eden Yerushalmi, Alex Lubanov, Ori Danino, Almog Sarusi. (photos from internet).

This article is an edited version of a blog posted on Sept. 2, 2024.

Carmel Gat, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eden Yerushalmi, Alex Lubanov, Ori Danino, Almog Sarusi. The cursor has been blinking below these six names and faces.

I haven’t known where to begin because there are so many emotions swirling, yet, despite the tears of devastation and despair that come to the surface and back away again, my predominant emotions are rage and frustration.

Rage at the savage and violent ends for these beautiful men and women, and frustration that, even in Israel, many have assumed that so few hostages could possibly still be alive, that only 30 or 40 are likely still alive. Well, here we had six, who were all held in tunnels, where just oxygen is tough to find, surviving a Middle Eastern summer with practically no food or water or personal hygiene for close to a year, and they are not dead because they couldn’t survive – they did survive. They are dead because they were murdered by Hamas at close range and, although it is customary in Judaism not to say details that will hurt the families or the memories of their loved ones, due to the level of urgency of this situation for now close to a year, I feel it is crucial to state that it is known that these particular six hostages were tortured badly before they were shot.

It is important to point out the brutality of Hamas. It was an incredibly bold move for Hamas to select two young women and an American man, whose mother was on the cover of Time magazine and whose parents just gave an electrifying speech on Aug. 21 at the Democratic National Convention, as hostages to murder so savagely. This speaks volumes to me. Hamas is fearless – and why shouldn’t they be? All of the pressure for a ceasefire has been on Israel. All of the pressure for the war to end has been on Israel. How about: “Give us back our people” instead of “Bring them home now,” why not, “Send them home now”?

The tunnel these hostages were found in was located less than a mile from the tunnel in Rafah from which Farhan al-Qadi, a Bedouin-Israeli hostage, was rescued, so it is possible that the Israel Defence Forces’ proximity led Hamas to make this horrific decision, but, had the IDF been “permitted” to enter Rafah sooner and more aggressively, perhaps more could have been done to save these human beings and the rest of the hostages months ago.

The anger I feel is complicated. I traveled alone to Israel last November to write about the hostages and got so involved there that I stayed until March. It is hard being in the diaspora right now, as I am realizing more and more regularly that Jews outside of Israel aren’t understanding how Israeli Jews feel right now and what they need so badly from us. I’ve tried to communicate this through my piece about Alon Ohel which can be read at melanie-preston.com. (His mom’s words put it so perfectly.)

The vast majority of Jews in the diaspora love Israel, and so they visit and they donate and they believe that if there ever were an emergency in the world, Israel would welcome them. But this isn’t something that can be taken for granted – that Israel will always be the safest country for Jews. It has not felt that way for Israelis since Oct. 7.

If such a brutal attack can happen in Israel, and the government won’t do everything in its power to bring the hostages home alive, then Iran can perhaps win this war because Israelis will start to leave. This is something Hezbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah has said in his speeches lately. He has said Israelis will lose faith in their own government, tourism will stop and the economy will be destroyed. We already know that Iran is winning the propaganda war.

If Israelis no longer have faith in their system and feel they are not cared for as the top priority, which was happening before Oct. 7, and which many feel led to the Oct. 7 attack in the first place, then they won’t want to continue risking their lives or their children’s lives for the ideals of the Zionist state.

It is the belief of many in Israel that these six beautiful souls did not need to die, and these six are beautiful souls. I knew a lot about two of them and have spent the past days learning about the other four. My eyes are swollen from crying.

The hearts of Israelis have been shredded for close to a year, and there is still no healing in sight. Rarely do they ask for help from the diaspora, but, more than any other time in modern Israel’s history, they need us. They need all the Jews of the world putting all the pressure we can muster to get a deal done to bring the remaining hostages home alive. Anything else we need to do for the country’s security can still be done after this first priority – life – is once again prioritized.

***

I am going to start with Carmel Gat from Kibbutz Be’eri, the woman with the infectious smile, because I feel like I have gotten to know her through her friend Adam Rapoport, who took me to see Be’eri after I met him when I was writing about a different hostage who was murdered in Gaza back in January (Itay Svirsky). Adam, Itay and Carmel went to the same school.

photo - Carmel Gat — Carmel Gat *(photo from internet)*

Carmel was raised on the kibbutz but lived in Tel Aviv and worked as an occupational therapist.

“She was such a loving person, such a peace-loving person. She has friends who speak all languages and are from all backgrounds,” said her cousin, Gil Dickmann, on CNN. “She was always looking for ways to treat others, and to take care of them during their most horrible phases and times of their lives. We know that, in captivity, she actually took care of two youngster hostages who were with her, and she practised yoga with them and meditation with them to make sure that they came through this horrible experience OK, and … when they came back, we were so glad to hear this because this is exactly what Carmel is, and she managed to stay herself in captivity and to take care of others … that was such an amazing thing for us to hear. And, to know that after all this, after 11 months in captivity, she lost her life in such a horrible way and we missed getting her back by so little, is devastating.”

Imagine mastering a practice with such grace that you could be stolen by a terrorist group and manage to not just sustain your own light but spread it, teach it, bringing light into the darkest tunnels of horror – that is nothing short of holy work.

On Oct. 7, Carmel was in Be’eri visiting her parents, and witnessed the murder of her mother before she was ripped away from her life and taken to Gaza. Throughout her time in captivity, “Yoga for Carmel” was done all over the world, with people not knowing if she was alive or not, but choosing to send her strength through yoga.

Well, she was alive. She was alive in a tunnel. For almost 11 months. Not only was Carmel slated to be released on day one of any new deal, but she was on the list to be released at the end of November. Had the ceasefire not been broken by Hamas, she would have been out at the beginning of December.

Carmel turned 40 years old in Gaza, in May, a couple of days after my own birthday, and I felt this strong connection and kept wondering if that meant she was alive. How I wanted her to come back. How I wanted to meet this woman of strength when I returned to Israel, when I would spend more time on Be’eri. Instead, the number of dead from Be’eri has increased to 102.

May the memory of Carmel be a blessing to all who were lucky enough to have known her, and especially to the children she taught yoga to in Gaza to help them during their two months of terror. May they find someone with Carmel’s light to get them through this.

***

photo - Hersh Goldberg-Polin — Hersh Goldberg-Polin *(photo from internet)*

Hersch Goldberg-Polin was supposed to embark on a globetrotting backpacking trip last December, like I did at 23. The kid who loved maps and atlases, who so many Americans feel like they know, thanks to his incredible parents, Rachel Goldberg-Polin and Jon Polin.

Through the sharing of fun facts about Hersh, we have grown to love him, and creative ideas to keep his name out there included giving the name Hersh when ordering coffee at Starbucks, just to hear “Hersh!” when it’s ready.

His mother came up with counting the days of this war by ripping off a piece of masking tape every day, writing in marker the day number of captivity and sticking the piece of tape on her shirt. Her Instagram videos have discussed the process of the number changing from two digits to three, as well as how it feels when one roll of tape ends and another begins.

Hersh was seen on video being taken on Oct. 7. The video showed him being loaded onto a truck, and made clear that his arm was blown off. This was all his parents knew about their only son for a long time.

As Passover began, Hamas released a video of Hersh, in which you could see that his left arm – his dominant arm, his mom would always stress – was now a stub. In that video, he stated that he was living without sunlight, food or water, and that he would not have peace on the holiday, but hoped they would.

Hersh’s parents spoke clearly and strongly to those involved in the hostage negotiations: Qatar, Egypt, the United States, Hamas and Israel. “Be brave, lean in, seize this moment and get a deal done to reunite all of us with our loved ones and end the suffering in this region,” said his father, with respect to all involved. His mom added: “And Hersh, if you can hear this … we heard your voice today for the first time in 201 days … and if you can hear us, I am telling you, we are telling you – we love you. Stay strong. Survive.”

These words resonated with the hostage families and became a mantra for their loved ones. But, less than two weeks after Rachel and Jon spoke with such power and grace, they learned that Hersh came to a torturous end.

May we hold his family in the light and love that they have demonstrated to all sufferers in this conflict on both sides, since the very beginning.

May the memory of this young man, with the adventurous spirit he didn’t get to use nearly enough, be a blessing for all who knew and loved him, and for those of us who feel like we did.

***

photo - Eden Yerushalmi — Eden Yerushalmi *(photo from internet)*

Eden Yerushalmi was from Tel Aviv and studying to be a pilates instructor. She was bartending at the Nova festival and sent her family multiple videos as the attack began. According to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, the final texts she sent her family that day were “They’ve caught me,” and then “Find me, okay?” These are the chilling words they were left to grapple with.

The striking photo of her at the beach always stopped me in my tracks in Israel, whenever I came across it in Hostages Square or on a supermarket window or café wall. It forced me yet again to take in the enormity of this tragedy, and to imagine something so sick and horrifying happening to someone.

May Eden’s memory be a blessing for all who knew and loved her.

***

photo - Alexander Lubanov with his wife Michal — Alexander Lubanov with his wife Michal *(photo from internet)*

Alexander Lubanov was a bar manager at the Nova Festival and the father of a 2-year-old on Oct. 7. His wife was pregnant at the time and gave birth alone while he was in Gaza. Their baby is now five months old. May Alex’s memory be a blessing to his wife, his very young children and all who knew and loved him.

***

Ori Danino was escaping the Nova festival on Oct.7, but turned his car around to rescue more people. He was from Jerusalem and had five younger brothers and sisters.

photo - Ori Danino — Ori Danino *(photo from internet)*

He was happiest when he was out in nature and around people, and “the best partner you can imagine,” his girlfriend, Liel Avraham, told the Jerusalem Post.

Ori left the festival with his friend in separate cars, to help as many people out as possible. He phoned his friend to ask for the phone number of festival-goers they had just met. He returned to get them, and this was the last his friend heard from him. It was determined that those Ori turned around to get were also taken hostage.

May his memory be a blessing to all who knew and loved him.

***

photo - Almog Sarusi — Almog Sarusi *(photo from internet)*

According to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, Almog Sarusi loved traveling around Israel in his white Jeep with his guitar. His girlfriend of five years was murdered at the Nova festival, and he stayed by her side, hoping to help her. He was captured and taken hostage into Gaza.

May Almog’s memory be a blessing to all who knew and loved him.

Melanie Preston is a Canadian-born, American-raised, Jewish writer and traveler who discovered Israel at the age of 26, immigrated to the country and stayed for seven years. She flew to Israel alone on Nov. 16, 2023, from her home in Charlotte, NC, and was there to March of this year. She is saving to move back to Israel to continue writing about the hostages. She intends to work with the children of Be’eri at Kibbutz Hatzerim and cover the rebuilding of Kibbutz Be’eri. For more information, visit melanie-preston.com. To support her work, go to gofundme.com.

Holding faith at rallies

UBC student Zara Nybo, a non-Jewish ally, holds a poster of Rom Braslavski, as she speaks of his heroism before he was taken hostage to Gaza on Oct. 7. (photo by Pat Johnson)

As negotiations continued in Doha, Qatar, for the release of Israeli hostages, the weekly rallies in support of those held, their families and all Israelis continued Sunday, Aug. 18, at the Vancouver Art Gallery.

“As a university professor and as a Jew, I have been forced to witness the frontlines of a propaganda war to dehumanize and demonize Jews and to delegitimize the nation of Israel,” said Prof. Steven Plotkin, a University of British Columbia physicist.

The Hamas strategy is one of “asymmetric warfare,” he said, in which they bait Israel Defence Forces with attacks and hostage-takings, then use their own Palestinian civilians as human shields, knowing that the casualty numbers and horrible images will evoke sympathy in the West.

“And we’ve seen it,” he said. “The encampment and the protests at UBC quickly turned from advocating for the human rights of Palestinians to a call for the end of Israel.”

On campus, the messages he saw included the now familiar “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” but others on the same theme, including “We don’t want your two states! Take us back to ’48” and “Resistance is justified when you are occupied.” Another common refrain, he said, is “‘Globalize the intifada.’ That means bring terrorism everywhere, including here in Canada.”

“Long live Oct. 7” was yet another slogan the professor saw on his campus.

“Let that sink in,” he said.

When reports of extensive sexual abuse by Hamas and other Palestinians who broke through the border on Oct. 7 became known, he said, “I saw posters at UBC that announced a discussion group for ‘the lies that Zionists spread about the sexual abuse that didn’t occur on Oct. 7.’”

Plotkin reflected back to the days after the 9/11 terror attacks in New York City, when people put up posters of their lost loved ones.

“Could you imagine what kind of person would think to tear one of those down? No one would have dreamed of it,” he said. “And now we’re seeing a world whose moral compass has completely lost its direction.”

Posters of Israeli hostages are routinely torn down at UBC, elsewhere in Vancouver and around the world. Plotkin shared a psychological hypothesis for why this desecration is so rampant.

In the identity-centred worldview of many activists, Plotkin said, morality is determined by one’s position in the hierarchy of oppression.

“The less powerful are pardoned, the more powerful must be guilty,” he said. Because Hamas is less powerful than Israel, Israel must be guilty, despite the evidence of Hamas murdering, raping and abducting Israeli civilians.

“A hostage poster, however, throws a wrench into that framework because it forces them to cope with the idea that the people that they thought were oppressed could actually be in the wrong,” Plotkin said. “Their whole simplistic worldview of the blameless oppressed and the evil oppressor is undermined by the ugly facts contained in the posters. A hostage poster induces a cognitive dissonance and, rather than question their own worldview, it’s easier for them to see it as pro-Israel propaganda designed to elicit their sympathy for the Jews in Israel, the bad guys, and so they feel compelled to tear the poster down.”

Eyal Daniel, a Burnaby high school teacher who specializes in Holocaust and genocide studies and who is president of the Holocaust and Antisemitism Educators’ Association, spoke about how his group was denied recognition by the BC Teachers’ Federation.

Representing close to 150 educators, the group applied to become one of the BCTF’s provincial specialist associations.

“Our application was rejected without any given reason,” he said. “Currently, there are no educational resources about the Holocaust and antisemitism for teachers in the province.”

Conversely, Daniel said, the province’s 50,000 teachers are bombarded by their union with materials promoting the elimination of the state of Israel.

The provincial government has mandated that Grade 10 students must receive Holocaust education beginning in 2025 and it is said to be working on curriculum materials.

Despite the lack of recognition from the BCTF, Daniel’s group will continue to work “as if we had been approved,” he said.

“Therefore, these days, we are in the process of constructing a new website, developing useful, meaningful professional development opportunities for teachers, assessing and developing appropriate educational materials and working with the minister of education on the upcoming Grade 10 Holocaust education curriculum framework,” he said.

Daniel spoke of his family’s recent visit to Israel, where they visited the site of the Nova music festival.

“Stepping out of the car into the desert heat, we were immediately surrounded by the haunting silence,” he said, “but, yet, 364 voices called out from the ground: Where is the humanity? The Nova memorial site is a barren killing field where humanity ceased to exist.”

Rabbi Susan Tendler of Congregation Beth Tikvah, in Richmond, spoke of the need for dialogue.

“In civic discourse … we’re yelling more than we’re listening,” she said. “So many of us will talk about the need to listen to one another but instead we’re just angry and have an inability to actually talk to one another.”

She asked people to see the humanity of others as a starting point to dialogue.

“To be a Jew means to respect and understand that every single human being was created in the image of God,” she said. “Let us continue to work for peace in the region that so, so sorely needs healing.”

Zara Nybo, a fourth-year student at UBC, is an ally to the Jewish community, president of the Israel on Campus club, and an Emerson Fellow with the international advocacy group StandWithUs. She shared recollections of a training conference in Los Angeles from which she and scores of other campus activists recently returned. At an LA rally for the hostages, she heard profoundly moving testimonies from family members of those still held in Gaza.

“Most people around me, men, women, had tears streaming down their face,” said Nybo. “We were all holding each other in collective grief.”

The mother of Rom Braslavski spoke of how her son had been a security guard at the Nova music festival and took it upon himself to hide the bodies of murdered women, both so they would not be taken to Gaza and so that they would not be posthumously raped or mutilated, as he had seen other female bodies desecrated. Braslavski was taken hostage in Gaza.

As Nybo and her fellow students prepare for the new academic year, she emphasized the training they have undergone and the determination with which they will return to campus.

“I will tell you we are committed to this fight,” she said.

Richard Lowy, who has provided vocal and guitar inspiration at almost every rally for months, spoke of the hope that a resolution will come through negotiation.

Event organizer Daphna Kedem recounted the rally in Tel Aviv the evening before and expressed hope that the hostages will be released soon and that the weekly rallies she has organized for 10 months will cease to be necessary.