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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.