Liora Ben Tzur of Kibbutz Ein HaShlosha gave birth to her third daughter just 30 hours before the events of Oct. 7, 2023. Her mother, Marcelle Talia, came from her home in Kiryat Arba to the kibbutz to help Liora’s husband with the children.
On the morning of Simchat Torah, while Liora was still in the maternity ward, her mother was murdered as she walked along the paths of the kibbutz, carrying candy for the children.
This year, during Sukkot, as her mother’s yahrtzeit approached, Liora remembered that her mother’s bag must still be somewhere in her house. “It was the backpack she carried everywhere,” she recalled. Sure enough, she found it and began rummaging through it.
“I don’t know what I was looking for. Maybe a little letter she had left behind, something we hadn’t discovered yet.
“I opened a document wallet and found 2,000 shekels inside. Attached to the banknotes with a paper clip was a small note on which Mom had written one word: Tzedakah. And underneath it, her last name: Talia.
“Wow. Two thousand shekels. Three years after Mom was murdered, she suddenly ‘pops in for a visit’ and leaves us all with one more obligation: Give tzedakah.
“My siblings and I divided the money, and each of us chose a different cause.
“My husband and I decided to use our share to buy candy and little surprises for the grandchildren and the other children of Kibbutz Ein HaShlosha for Simchat Torah. I told the children that it was a holiday gift from Savta Marcelle.
“It was so typical of Mom, leaving us 2,000 shekels with a single-word instruction. She never talked about grand ideals. She never sat us down to explain her worldview. She simply gave.
“She would save bottles for people in need who collected them, and she wouldn’t hesitate to hand a beggar a 200-shekel bill (about $70).
“So I wanted a part of her to return to the place where she had been when she was murdered. To the children she loved so much, to the grandchildren she never managed to reach that morning, to all the children of the kibbutz.
“On that Simchat Torah morning, Mom had set out to bring treats to the children. Now, in her backpack, we had found a small way to finish what she had started.
“Three years later, on Simchat Torah 5787, children of the kibbutz danced with Torah scrolls and enjoyed the candy that Savta Marcelle had wanted them to have.”
The first call for the ‘Dor Ambulance’
Hila Baravitz, a midwife who lives in Kibbutz Sa’ad, sent me the following story:
“Thursday evening. I’m in the middle of cooking for Shabbat when the phone rings. It’s Tzvika Rider, our neighbor, a senior medic. He tells me: ‘I have a call for a woman in labor.’
“Half a minute later, I’m already in his new ambulance, donated in memory of his son, Dor, who was murdered in Be’eri on Simchat Torah.
“We start driving toward the entrance to Be’eri, in the area of the fields. On the way, Tzvika says: ‘How I wish there would be a birth here, in Dor’s ambulance. This is my first call with this vehicle.’
“On the way to Be’eri, opposite Kibbutz Alumim, Tzvika spots the car that called us, pulled over at the side of the road. We get out and see a woman leaning against the trunk of the car, two small children inside, and a husband who is very, very (!) happy to see us. . . .
“I hurry over. The woman is already in active labor. Tzvika rushes to take out a stretcher so we can get her into the ambulance. We get inside, and within seconds she gives birth. A boy. Gorgeous. Beautiful.
“We are all overwhelmed with emotion. I hold myself together so I won’t cry.
“With perfect timing, a mobile intensive care ambulance arrives and takes her, overjoyed, to the maternity ward.
“On the way back, I think about the project called ‘Potchot Tzir,’ which brings together the Midwives Assn. and Magen David Adom precisely for situations like these. Baruch Hashem, thanks to this project, I was there.
“People always say about a new ambulance: ‘May it only be used for births.’ And here we were, fortunate enough to experience just that.
“Then I think about Dor Rider (may Hashem avenge his blood), Tzvika’s son who was murdered in Be’eri. An ambulance was dedicated in his memory, and its very first call was for a baby boy, born right on the road to Be’eri. At that point, the tears wouldnstop.
“I cry for dear Dor. For my friend Adrian, the beloved midwife who was murdered in Be’eri. And for the mother whom I helped bring new life into the world.
“Then I go back home, to finish cooking for Shabbat.”
“Va’omar lach, bedamayich chayi, va’omar lach, bedamayich chayi. And I said to you: In your blood, live. And I said to you: In your blood, live.”
Finding your own Noah’s Ark
This week’s Torah portion is Noah. Humanity had become corrupt, G-d had brought a flood to wash away the evil in the world. Only Noah and his family survived, taking refuge in the ark that Noah had built.
Rabbi Shalom Noach Berezovsky, in his book Netivot Shalom, explains that we, too, have a mission to build our own “Noah’s ark.”
“Even when a raging flood surrounds us and everything seems bleak; there is a Noah’s ark that can save us. When a person feels low and discouraged, the solution is found in the words of this week’s Torah portion: ‘Make yourself an ark.’
“In our generation, there are three Noah’s arks: Torah, Shabbat, and unity. These are powerful forces for good that enable us to overcome the evil around us.
“This Torah portion is not relevant only to Noah’s generation. It contains a lesson for all generations to come: No matter what situation we find ourselves in, there is always a place of refuge.
“Even in the worst circumstances, we can still hold fast to what is good.”
Rabbi Berezovsky identifies three “Noah’s arks” that we can enter to draw strength and find inner peace: Torah study, Shabbat observance, and unity. Other commentators suggest additional “Noah’s arks,” encouraging us to find our own safe haven in a turbulent world. What is yours?
