Thursday was tough. I tried to avoid the news most of the day, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to work. In the evening I saw footage of the four coffins being brought to Israel, footage which was interrupted by the breaking news of three buses exploding, thankfully all empty, and two more were found with explosive devices, in what clearly was a botched terrorist attack. I woke up the next morning to the shocking news that while the forensic experts had identified the bodies of Oded Lifshitz and the two young boys Ariel and Kfir Bibas, they found that the fourth body sent by Hamas didn't belong to their mother, Shiri Bibas. Poor Yarden, I thought to myself, as I'm sure many others thought as well, now he has to go through this ordeal? It only got worse when we learned in the afternoon that Ariel and Kfir, who were just 4 years old and 9 months old when they were kidnapped, were brutally murdered by terrorists with their bare hands. Shiri's body was returned by Hamas later in the evening and today the forensic experts confirmed that there is no sign that she was killed in an air strike. The image of a terrified Shiri holding her two boys closely while surrounded by terrorists on October 7th will forever be etched in our minds. We will never forget them and we will never forget that she and her boys were taken hostage three hours after the attack began, while Yarden had gone out to try to protect them and the kibbutz. And yet, I will try to remember images of the Bibas family from happier times.
Today we saw the joyous release of six hostages: Eliya Cohen, Omer Shem-Tov, Tal Shoham, Omer Wenkert, Hisham al-Sayed, and Avera Mengistu. Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed had been held captive in Gaza for over a decade, after entering on their own. Omer Cohen, Omer Shem-Tov, and Eliya Cohen were abducted from the Nova festival while Tal Shoham was taken hostage from Kibbutz Be'eri. Today they finally reunited with their families after 505 days and Tal reunited with his wife and two children, who were also taken hostage and were released last November. There are 63 hostages still in Gaza, and at least 20 are confirmed to be alive. While there is understandable outrage at Hamas over the fate of the Bibas family, we can't neglect the remaining hostages, and they all need to be urgently rescued in a hostage deal.
It was a strange week because while my social media feed was filled with images of broken orange hearts mourning the Bibas family, it was also filled with clips from SNL's 50th anniversary special and Glambots from the red carpet. I thought of our SNL, Eretz Nehederet, and how they delicately navigated satire during the war. This clip is taken from the first episode of their 21st season, which aired just a few weeks after October 7th. I don't remember much from the episode, just that every laugh felt like a release and how emotional it was to see the cast singing this classic with Shlomo Artzi, a song originally written in 1970 and still so relevant today.
Our eyes are dry from tears
And our mouths are left speechless
What else can we ask for, tell me what else
We've asked for almost everything
Give us the rain only when it's time
And in the spring, spread flowers for us
And let him return home again
We don't need more than that
We've already suffered a thousand scars
Deep inside we hid a sigh
Our eyes are dry from crying
Tell me we've already passed the test
Give us the rain only when it's time
And in the spring, spread flowers for us
And let her be with him again
We don't need more than that
We've already covered one hill after another
We buried our hearts among the cypresses
Soon the sigh will break out
Take this as a very personal prayer
Give us the rain only when it's time
And in the spring, spread flowers for us
And let us see him again
We don't need more than that
Give us the rain only when it's time
Give us the rain only when it's time
Lovely translation from Lyrhub.
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