destruction and rebuilding afterwards to create something even better. It also illustrates how, when people work together, they can accomplish greater things.<\/p>\n
Through a mutual friend, I arranged to meet Yaron, a lifelong member of Kibbutz Be\u2019eri and one who had survived the Oct. 7 massacre. He graciously took me on a tour of the kibbutz as he described the events of that day. Much of what follows are descriptions of the events in his own words. He\u2019s given me permission to share them with you.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n On the evening of Oct. 6, Yaron and other kibbutzniks were celebrating the anniversary of the founding of Kibbutz Be\u2019eri. Sharing drinks later with some of his closest friends, they started planning a summer hiking trip in the French Alps.<\/p>\n At 6:30 in the morning of Oct. 7, Yaron heard unusual noises, as he slept with his wife and two young children \u2013 both under 5 years old. It sounded like shelling and bombing. When the red alert siren went off, they ran to join their kids in their home\u2019s\u00a0 <\/span>mamad <\/i>(reinforced security room), which is also the kids\u2019 bedroom.<\/p>\n Initially, Yaron wasn\u2019t too concerned, even after receiving a text that the kibbutz may have been infiltrated by enemies. \u201cOK, I guess we\u2019ll be cooped up in here for a couple of hours,\u201d he thought.<\/p>\n \u201cMessages in the different kibbutz WhatsApp groups start reporting about terrorists walking inside Be\u2019eri,\u201d he writes. \u201cIt is close to 8 a.m. Someone writes a message that she hears gunshots.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Shortly after that, someone reports hearing \u201cterrible screams from the apartment above her, then silence.\u201d Another says that one of the houses in the kibbutz is burning.<\/p>\n Yaron tries to stay calm. The power goes off. Their dog, who is not inside the room, is unusually silent. They hear that someone is in their house.<\/p>\n \u201cThey get to the room and try to open the door. I fight over the handle, heart pounding,\u201d writes Yaron. \u201cThey don\u2019t succeed! Every time they try, I swing the door handle back to the upright, \u2018Safe\u2019 position.\u201d<\/p>\n Eventually, the terrorists give up on opening the mamad. Yaron ignores the calls in Arabic and English to come out of the room. He and his family listen, as the terrorists sing, while wrecking the house. First, there is the smell of gasoline, then smoke enters the room.<\/p>\n A neighbour advises them, via Yaron\u2019s phone, that they should close the gap under the door with wet clothes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI take the sheet from my daughter\u2019s bed, pour the bucket of urine on it and jam it under the door,\u201d Yaron writes. \u201cOutside the room, the fire grows fierce, it consumes five years of our lives in minutes\u2026. We are in a closed room, we have no electricity, the children are coughing. I realize that the fire in our home is probably so crazy that even those inhumane monsters can\u2019t still be waiting outside the door. I let go of the handle and I take a deep breath and feel some oxygen flow to my brain. So far, it was the pressure and fear of the terrorists that was suffocating me, but now the smoke is becoming the main problem.\u201d<\/p>\n Yaron\u2019s wife continues to text with neighbours, calling emergency team members repeatedly.<\/p>\n \u201cAll of our children\u2019s books are burning outside,\u201d Yaron shares. \u201cAmidst all the terror we hear one of our favourites, a sound book of Arik Einstein songs, catching fire. The fire makes it play, chillingly, one of the happiest songs we know: \u2018It\u2019s Saturday morning, a beautiful day\u2026.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Suffocating on the smoke, the family has no choice but to open a window of their second-floor apartment. Despite the fear of what awaits them outside, the smoke is too much and they climb out onto the metal awning below.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe four of us are sitting on the metal. We can breathe but we are exposed 2.5 metres (eight feet) above the ground. OK, now what?\u201d Yaron recalls.<\/p>\n
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