This past February, as Boston shivered in sub-freezing temperatures, Newton residents Amnon and Karin Gavish made their final preparations to relocate to Kfar Aza, an Israeli kibbutz situated less than one mile from Gaza.
Sixteen months earlier, on Oct. 7, 2023, Kfar Aza was the site of a massive attack in which 62 residents were killed and 19 were taken hostage by hundreds of Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists. The violence and depravity, which lasted almost two days, were almost beyond comprehension.
Shortly after the attacks, Kfar Aza became a primary stop on tours of the Gaza Envelope, a region devastated by terrorism; its houses bear walls scarred by bullet holes, some marked with the names of those who died inside.
It is in these neighborhoods that the Gavishes will live for the next year.
The Gavishes are part of a group of 58 people—and the only Americans in the group—who make up the first cohort for Shnat Sherut 50 Plus, a program supported by CJP and run by the Elul organization, where volunteers give a year of service to the area’s regional council that includes communities ravaged by terrorism and war. Think Peace Corps, except for mostly retirees who are all over 50. They’re doctors, high-tech entrepreneurs, teachers and social workers who have decided to devote their skills and service to help rebuild communities in the Gaza Envelope.
Jane Levy, the head of fundraising for Elul, a beit midrash (Jewish learning center), said the Gavishes have a blend of life and professional experience that has made them extremely valuable in the council.
“Karin is an English teacher—a field with a severe shortage—and Amnon teaches mathematics in high school and is involved in a new technology center within the council,” Levy said. “Their fluent Hebrew greatly facilitates their integration into the group. At this stage, we believe it is best to recruit Hebrew-speaking volunteers who feel comfortable joining an Israeli group and are willing to commit to extended periods of service.”
Since arriving at the kibbutz, a place of great pain and trauma, the communities have been extremely supportive.
“The overwhelming response is multiple thank yous and invitations to come to people’s homes, especially those living on the kibbutz,” Karin said.
The devastation of Oct. 7 is very much part of everyday life in these communities. The Gavishes describe the partially destroyed homes and shells of burned buildings; numbers and symbols indicating that a home was cleared of explosives, ammunition, bodies and blood.
“These are all visual signs of the trauma that the members of the kibbutz suffered,” Karin said. “This is in complete dissonance with the birds, green, citrus trees bursting with fruit, wildflowers everywhere. In terms of the trauma that people suffered, mostly what we have seen is that each person we meet wants to share their own experiences of that day.”
Volunteers like the Gavishes have become a part of the community, strengthening and supporting those who have returned home, and helping to restore a sense of trust and even hope in the future through their efforts to restore a small bit of what was lost. According to Levy, residents of Kfar Aza and Nahal Oz, another nearby kibbutz, have shared that “volunteers are bringing [their] homes back to life, making it easier for them to return in the future.”
As the program grows, Levy said there will be place for more American volunteers, even those with little or no Hebrew knowledge.
“For Amnon and Karin, their fluent Hebrew has made integration smoother. For the pilot, we focused on Hebrew speakers to keep things simple, but our goal is to build a living bridge that enables English-speaking Jews from the diaspora to join us as the program grows,” she said.
Support CJP so we can continue meeting the needs of the Jewish community in Greater Boston and abroad.
