In the video: the meeting of the Brodach family with their beloved dog after the liberation from Hamas/Schneider barges
If anyone still needed proof of how necessary the inclusion of women in the IDF (yes, even in the fighting units), came the massacre on October 7 and the war that followed and closed the corner, but not only on the battlefield. Also in the Gaza Envelope and the northern border, and in the rear, Women took the initiative, led important moves and demonstrated courage and resourcefulness. On the occasion of International Women's Day, we will tell the stories of two of them: Lia Orpaz, a social worker in the Eshkol Regional Council on behalf of the Ministry of Welfare, a resident of Kibbutz Tzalim who was evacuated from her home and helped the survivors of the party in Ra'im, and Prof. Gilat Livni, director of the Department children at the Schneider Center, she was appointed director of the "returnee department" at the hospital and was entrusted with the treatment of abductees and abductees who returned from Gaza.
Lia Orpaz/courtesy of the photographers
On October 7, Orfaz, who also serves as the coordinator of the sexual assault unit in the Eshkol Regional Council, woke up with her family at 6:40 a.m. to the sound of alarms and rockets.
Their house doesn't have an alarm system so the only "protected" area is the hallway. The alarms continued and they asked their neighbors who had an alarm system to move in.
Thus the family found themselves with the neighbors they joined and another family inside a small room.
"There was nothing like this in the decade that I lived in the kibbutz," repeated Orpaz in a conversation with Walla!.
"The children, 9 and 12 years old, and I moved to a neighbor's house, my husband stayed with our dog Debbie, who is also post-traumatic. We received on WhatsApp from the kibbutz that they are taking in dozens of evacuees from the 'Hanuva' party. At the same time, I wrote to my patients that I am here for them according to a procedure I created in the last decade , until patients started writing to me that they see terrorists from the window of their home."
Orfaz instructed her patients to close the emergency room door and hide. Some of them were also disconnected, so there was a lot of concern. "My husband explained to me that the situation is very difficult and that I must come to help the wounded and the survivors, to give them first aid to prevent post-trauma," she said. At one point, Orfaz turned to the victims of the party, most of whom were lying in the dining room of the kibbutz, in the secretariat and in the surrounding area. She performed exercises with them to instill in them a sense of security when, during the treatment and conversation, they tell her what happened at the party. She is also sure that the therapeutic procedure saved the survivors she treated from developing post-traumatic stress disorder. trauma.
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Nova survivors in a healing space established for them/Niv Aharonson
The decision to leave
While some of the injured and residents of the kibbutz decided to leave, Orpaz and her family stayed another night in the kibbutz because they did not feel safe to go out.
"We took two of the largest kitchen knives we have, and the dog was also with us, so that if someone passed by, she would bark and we would be ready. This did not happen. We got up early in the morning and headed towards the family in the center. 10 minutes passed and we received a message on WhatsApp that the alert squad caught terrorists outside the kibbutz. She passed I got a terrible chill, only then did I start to digest the things that happened," she shared.
Orpaz and her husband brought with them everything they could take and headed to a hotel in Mitzpe Ramon.
There she created a daily schedule of treatments and help for the evacuees and also allocated a special treatment room for her and a sign prepared for her by one of the employees.
"This gesture warmed my heart in extremely difficult and dark moments," said Orfaz.
"We arrived like refugees. We were in a 30-meter room with a post-traumatic dog and I said to myself how do I take care of a place like this, but I managed. At first I took care of myself from the car and nature until I managed. The residents are used to leaving the house after each round and security escalation, and we are used to there being a regression in their mental state, And everything gets mixed up, but what happened to us in the council is the most terrible of all. All the worst fears have become a reality. The house has become dangerous and traumatic, and the testimonies and the discourse on October 7 about sexual abuse in settlements and in captivity, provoke new triggers and situations of trauma."
The scene of the massacre at the party in Ra'im/Flash 90, Haim Goldberg
What about the children and the family?
"I tried to balance home and work, I didn't always succeed. I also saw a lot of moments of kindness. My children lost a lot. There are children who were murdered from my son's class and also amidst all the pain and the disintegration of the routine, the framework and the supports, it was important for me to tell my children that we are watching over them And that they are allowed to be in pain and allowed to be sad. I take care of myself and run in the kibbutz area, this is my release. I am back to meeting my patients face to face. These are moments of hope and optimism to bring back a part of the life before October 7th."
Orpaz candidly says that reality will no longer return to what it was before October 7.
"The whole kibbutz remembers that day. Many people cannot return to their homes. We have a very close community in the kibbutz. It was the community anchor and for me it also gave me strength. The patients and I share a common traumatic reality. I feel that in the treatment process they feel that I understand them and this creates Closeness and trust," she clarified.
Keren Katz, Deputy Director of the Southern District of the Ministry of Welfare, added: "The social workers in the Ministry of Welfare and social services departments worked with inspiring dedication during the war, many of them residents of the recovery area who were evacuated themselves. Their professional and intensive work, which often came at personal and family costs, constitutes a significant infrastructure in the reconstruction Residents of the Hakatomo area."
Prof. Livni with Gali Tarshansky and her mother/official website, spokeswoman at Schneider Hospital
A bridge between the abductees and the outside world
Prof. Gilat Livni is already used to emergency situations in the State of Israel, but for October 7 - no one could have prepared her.
Livni, director of the children's department at Schneider Hospital, was given a difficult task - receiving the abductees who returned from captivity.
"There was a big shock at the beginning. Many people were drafted into the reserves from the medical system and we had to continue the treatment of the children who are already in the hospital. It's a very complex situation," says Prof. Livni Lavalle!.
"One of our interns, Major Dr. Yair Zaloff, fell fighting in the south and it was very shocking."
After three weeks in the war, the administrators of the Schneider hospital invited Prof. Livni for a conversation and asked her to manage the returnees department at the hospital, hoping that among the abductees there would also be children.
Livni did not hesitate for a moment.
They thought of everything, brought together medical teams and went over every detail from the children's toys to clothing according to every degree of abduction and abduction that comes back.
"We were a kind of bridge for those who sat between the isolated world and the noisy world, a world where everyone just wants to help them. We had to restore the families' trust in human beings," she recalls.
Prof. Livni with Amit Shani and his family/official website, spokesmen at Schneider Hospital
In addition to the teenagers and children who returned from captivity, mothers and grandmothers who were together because they did not want to be separated were treated at the hospital.
"They felt safe to tell us a lot of details, a personal and very close relationship was established along with the medical care. The mental care was the main thing to be there for them," she continued.
"There was a mother who said that she was afraid for her daughter's future because of the anxiety. We heard another girl who came back and said that she doesn't think she is the worst because there are children in her class who have had more family members killed."
Prof. Gilat Livni/Official website, spokeswoman at Schneider Hospital
Precisely in these moments, did you happen to think about your family?
"My son loves parties and his friends were at "Nova". Unbearable. We also hung a sign in our ward that says 'Don't stop thinking about them' because I want each of us to see this all day long and the thought won't leave him even for a second."
Prof. Livni has a clear message in the background of marking International Women's Day.
"This period proved to us how much women have a place in the IDF and how much they can do and contribute to the country," she states unequivocally. "I was one of the first female soldiers to be an instructor at an armor school.
At the same time, all the acts of abuse committed on October 7, which are only now being recognized internationally, show how much darkness there is in the world, but I am sure that the light will overcome it."
More on the same topic:
abducted
social workers
Schneider Hospital
International Women's Day
women
Gaza war
War of Iron Swords