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heavy, and I couldn’t help but
tear up when a man sat down
at a piano and played Hatikvah,
Israel’s national anthem.
In the Nova Festival tent
at the square, I spoke with
Menashe, whose nephew Elkana
Bohlbot, 34 and a new father,
was last seen on a Hamas video
taken into Gaza bloodied,
shirtless and bound. Menashe
has been in that tent at Hostage
Square almost every day since
the war began. “We have so many problems
in this country,
” he told me. “The first thing
we need is to release the hostages.
”
The restored fountain in Tel Aviv’s
Dizengoff Square is another memorial
site for those killed, wounded or taken
hostage. Like the Nova site near Gaza, it is
filled with personal items, remembrances
and photos of happy people at happier
times. The base of the fountain is ringed
by stuffed animals and at night candles are
lit. People gather throughout the day and
night. Like each of the sites and people I
visited, sadness is expressed as love.
My time in Israel coincided with Purim,
so I celebrated, but there was debate about
how or whether to celebrate. A friend told
me that on her kibbutz the returned sol-
diers said they needed some normalcy and
relief, but others chose to stay away.
I also volunteered with others from
around the world at Eran’s Angel’s in Tel
Aviv, a collection and distribution center
overflowing with home goods for displaced
families and families of soldiers.
I distributed money and gifts
that family and friends had given
me to help those affected by the
war.
But, even with all these expe-
riences, now that I am back it
is sometimes easy to forget our
brothers and sisters are fight-
ing for their lives on the other side of the
world. Our voices are important, and we
can, and must, raise them. As Ephraim
wrote, none of us want to be fighting but
we really have no choice since every day is
still Oct. 7.
Don Cohen of West Bloomfield is a former director of
the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) Michigan Region
and of B’nai B’rith Great Lakes Region, and was
the Jewish Community Relations Council director in
Dayton, Ohio. He continues to be an advocate for
Israel. Contact him at doncohen@comcast.net.
continued from page 61
This large sign with pictures of
those attacked, brutalized and
worse at the Nova Festival site
near the Gaza border, greets
those coming to pay their
respects.
CHAG PESACH
SAMEACH
WISHING OUR JEWISH COMMUNITY
IN DETROIT AND AROUND THE WORLD
A MEANINGFUL HOLIDAY.
May the story of Passover give us
hope and remind us of our strength
and resilience.