After surviving the inferno last Saturday in the communities near the Gaza Strip, residents of the south gathered for an exciting Shabbat reception at Kibbutz Tzuba, where they are currently staying.
At the entrance to the Tzuba Hotel, a band played happy music for Shabbat, while a few meters away stands the mourning tent of the Zemach family, whose son Shahar Zemach from Kibbutz Be'eri was killed in the fighting. Shahar, who was in the alert squad of Kibbutz Be'eri, went to defend his kibbutz, fought heroically against the terrorists for hours until he ran out of ammunition and was murdered defending the country.
Shahar's little son rode him on a bimba on the paths of the pastoral Kibbutz Tzuba, at a time when women from Netivot gathered at the entrance of the hotel to light candles as Shabbat began.
Fought bravely, photo: Oren Ben Hakon
One of the women said that a tenth of the residents of Kibbutz Be'eri were murdered in the shocking massacre last Saturday, including Shahar, whose funeral has not yet taken place. Near the mourning tent they recalled the smile that so characterized Shahar Zemach, who was incredibly talented and loved nature.
On the way to receiving Shabbat at Kibbutz Tzuba, we spoke with Shulamit from Netivot, who arrived with her grandchildren and is still struggling to digest the tragedy of the Jewish people: "This is national mourning. I don't have a shelter or a safe room, and on Saturday we had 40 sirens. I ran to the stairwell and got hit in the head. Then I went to my daughter's house in Netivot and on Monday there were three terrorists there and I heard shooting. A missile landed in the block where my daughter lives, and miraculously it didn't hit anyone because the occupants weren't home. I was in therapy. I want to go home. You have to ask for heaven's mercy. What happened was worse than the Nazis."
Chen Mantivot lit Shabbat candles, covered her face with her hands, prayed silently and shared her feelings: "The feelings are difficult. We heard gunfire and it makes us anxious, which has existed for years. It's an anxiety that doesn't stop. There are many funerals and swearing-ins. My friend was murdered at the entrance to Sderot, she was buried in Sdot Negev and I couldn't attend her funeral."
"Hard feelings", photo: Oren Ben Hakon
The residents of the south enjoy a wide envelope thanks to the Edmond de Rothschild partnerships, which rented rooms at the Tzuba Hotel for those evacuated from the south, including some from Netivot, Sderot, Ofakim, Kibbutz Be'eri and Ashkelon.
Itamar, VP Finance and Operations at Edmond de Rothschild Partnerships, does not stop taking care of the residents of the south: "A city and a community have been established here, whose goal is to provide a response and treatment for all the needs of the evacuees, from basic needs through medicine to culture and welfare with a whole array of volunteers. Hadassah Medical and Kibbutz Tzuba help us. The residents have been here for a week and we are working to obtain funding to continue the project through our partners in Israel and abroad."
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