After he and his wife spent Sukkot with their son's family in the center of Israel, Asher Shmula was already looking forward to returning to work at his falafel stand.
54 years ago his father opened the stand in the heart of Kiryat Shmona and since then the place has become one of the businesses most identified with the city.
But then the war broke out in the south and spread to the north as well.
On the ninth of October, Asher and his wife packed a suitcase and drove again to their son, Yoav, who lives in Rishon Lezion.
Two months before, the son decided that he wanted to continue the family business and opened a Falafel Benjamin branch in Rishon Lezion.
Asher, who was forced to flee his home and since then close the falafel stand, rolled up his sleeves and joined his son's work.
And so Benjamin Falafel, which has not been closed since 1970, continues to work.
"Grandfather Benjamin's lineage continues," Asher said with satisfaction.
Asher and Yoav Shmula at Benjamin Falafel in Brasheltz/courtesy of the family
Benjamin Shmula was born in Irbil, Iraq, and in 1951, when he was 15 years old, immigrated to Israel with his parents and brother.
The family arrived in Kiryat Shmona, which was then beyond it.
During her transition, he married Geula, she also immigrated from Iraq and they started a family, living with their five children in a shack and later in a small housing apartment.
He worked for many years as a sequencer and then opened a vegetable shop and later set up a falafel stand next to it.
Their eldest son, Yoav, was killed in the Yom Kippur War.
He was a fighter in the Golani Brigade and was killed in the battle to conquer Hermon.
Yoav Shmula entered the armored car with the Israeli flag in his hands, which he intended to wave over the post they would capture from the Syrians, but during the battle he was hit by a bullet and killed.
His soldiers covered his face with the flag he brought with him.
Since then he dedicated his life to the memorialization of his son and the other martyrs of the wars, the children of Kiryat Shmona.
The family also built a synagogue called "Yave Plot".
The clothing store in Kiryat Shmona that was hit by a rocket, March 5, 2024/official website, Kiryat Shmona Spokesperson
After Benjamin passed away, Asher continued to work in the family business and was later joined by his son Yoav, who bears the name of his uncle.
Several years after leaving Kiryat Shmona, Yoav decided to open a Falafel Binyamin branch in the center of the country.
"Just last August, Yoav opened the falafel, it saves me. If I wasn't working now, I would just go crazy. It keeps me going," Asher said.
Since the evacuation of the city, every week, every Friday, Asher goes north to visit Kiryat Shmona.
He goes up to the cemetery where his daughter, Legal-Sarah, is buried, who died three years ago when she was 27, due to medical negligence.
Then he goes to the graves of his parents and brothers.
Before he returns to Rishon Lezion he passes by the falafel stand.
"It's so sad to see Kiryat Shmona like this. The center of the city, which was always full of people, is literally dead. There is no one in the Kurdish spring in Nahal Ein Zahav. There are no worshipers in the synagogue that Dad built. Dad never gave up - even in the most difficult days that passed through the city, when there were shelling , he would wait for a lull and take people out of the shelters so they could come and pray in the synagogue."
Damage to a residential apartment, Kiryat Shmona, March 5, 2024/Official website, Kiryat Shmona Municipality Spokesperson
Along with the comfort he finds with his family and at work, Asher mentions the community to which he belongs and which gives him strength: "Every day, families of evacuees from Kiryat Shmona come to Falafel to visit, talk, eat. The people of Kiryat Shmona are wonderful people," said Asher.
"After the bereavement we went through, our friends, neighbors, city employees and the entire community strengthened us. We would not have survived without the hugs and warmth we received then. Even now, good friends and city employees call us every day and ask how we are. We will return to Kiryat Shmona, to our beloved city and reopen the falafel that he founded Father Benjamin."
More on the same topic:
falafel
Kiryat Shmona
War of Iron Swords
Gaza war