Dr. Gedalya Fendel’s actions had transmuted lives of survivors of Hamas brutality.

Dr. Gedalya Fendel’s actions had transmuted the lives of survivors of Hamas brutality as it is portrayed in the documentary “Safe Room”.

Calgary Jewish community was marking the third anniversary of the October 7 Hamas’s barbaric attack on Israel by Community Commemoration Event which was organized by the Calgary Jewish Federation, Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), the Paperny Family JCC, and Beth Tzedec Calgary Jewish Film Festival.

The commemoration ceremony paid tribute to changes, prompted by the October 7 perfidious Hamas’s assault, to the local Jewish community and Israel.

At the end of the event the audience was rewarded with the viewing of the film “Safe Room”, directed by Haley Geffen.

During her a trip to Israel in 2024, director Geffen had met Dr. Gedalya Fendel who told her the amazing story of the group of survivors of brutal attacks of Hamas on October 7. He sent the victims of the traumatic attacks to his home safe room where they were able to transform their horrific experiences into family-like friendship and unity. Haley Geffen said :” What I found was a story that felt almost like fiction, a real-life narrative with a beginning, middle, and end. It wasn’t simply about horror. It contained death, survival, hope, beauty, love and ultimately life”.

Here are the survivors who were hiding in Dr. Fendel safe room and were under hospitable care of Merav Fender, his wife.

The grandparents, Aliza and Tzachi Gad residents of kibbutz Be’eri, were hiding in the safe room of their house with their son for 13 hours while the horde of terrorists invaded the kibbutz were destroying houses and murdering kibbutzniks. During the time of holing up, Aliza and Tzachi Gad heard militants using the second floor of their house as an operational base while firing from the upstairs window. At 8 p.m. the Israeli soldiers helped them to leave the place of hiding through the safe room window.

Kibbutz Be’eri suffered 100 residents killed and 30 people were taken hostages into Gaza.

Nine years old Michael Idan and six-year-old Amalia Idan from Kibbutz Kfar Aza remain alive and endure seeing their parents’ killings. The Hamas invaders murdered children’s mother, Smadar Idan, in their home. Kids father, Roee Idan, tried to escape with his daughter, 3-year-old Avidail, but was killed while covering Avigail with his body protecting her.  Michael and Amalia were thinking their sister was killed as well. Yet, while shielded by father’s body the toddler managed to crawl out and ran to her neighbors’ house where she was eventually taken hostage to Gaza. Michael and Amalia were hiding in a closet for 14 hours and were counseled via the phone by Tamar Schlesinger, the social worker. She protected the kids by guiding them not to open the door if the terrorists knock and by amiably supporting them.  Recently, the family who adopted all three kids released a recording of Michael and Amalia calling the police for help. There is a segment where Michael is saying:” We are children. Both of our parents just died”. Avigail, after 50 days of Hamas captivity, was released on November 26, 2023, and reunited with her siblings.

Another occupant of Dr. Fendel’s safe room was a pregnant woman whose home was burned by terrorists. Sapir Ben Ezra was close to a due date. Traumatized by horrific events, she was complaining of no longer feeling the baby moving inside her. Dr. Fendel understood the future mother’s basic comfort needs, expressed in food, rest, and human care, which was provided by his wife, Merav Fendel, and atmosphere of friendship in the safe room.

The group of strangers who never knew each other has developed an unbreakable bond during the short period of time while occupying the Safe Room of Dr. Fendel. The cement binding them was the common root of tragedy, the brutal attack of Hanas terrorists, and the sense of optimism of Dr. Gedalya Fendel and his family which was transplanted into the minds of the occupants of Safe Room.

It is important to note the film director Haley Geffen’s intention to examine the concept of safe room in the documentary with the purpose to let the world outside Israel know the extent of difficulties and pressure, both physical and emotional, the Israelis are enduring from the time of country’s inception. The director of the film stated:” The truth is, the world has no idea that Israel, in and of itself, is a safe room. The whole country has lived under missile attacks since its existence. So, I thought, maybe I should explain that. Maybe I should start the whole movie by explaining that”.

At the same time, the documentary creators point to the usefulness of the film to Israelis who, certainly, know the purpose and necessity of safe rooms. Yet, this documentary will add to Israelis perception of outside world and how little the people of other countries are aware of the necessity of safe rooms in the Jewish state. By watching the film, Israelis will realize: The world doesn’t know that missile attacks are part of their lives and, more to the point, the world doesn’t know how they exist.

The documentary took me and, I infer, many others in the audience watching the film “Safe Room”, through the feelings of sadness and depression, of witnessing the horror inflicted on the residents of Kibbutzim and Moshavim boarding the Gaza Strip by Hamas murderers. Yet, while we were leaving the screening of the film, still carrying the shadow of sorrows in our minds it was coexisting with the belief in the bright future of the Jewish state reinforced by the hope, optimism, and togetherness of the family born in the Safe Room of Dr. Gedalya Fendel.

The occupants of the Safe Room of Dr. Gedalya Fendel as well as other victims of the Hamas terrorist’s atrocities experienced and witnessed terrifying events.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a clinical mental health condition triggered by experiencing or witnessing a terrifying event.

The grandparents, Aliza and Tzachi Gad, residents of kibbutz Be’eri, were hiding in the safe room of their house with their son for 13 hours while the Hamas terrorists unlawfully and brutally invaded their home. The fact that Aliza and Tzachi (Itzhak) Gad were hiding from terrorists in the safe room, when the intruders were on the second floor of their house, is a terrifying incident. After the elderly couple was rescued by IDF soldiers, Tzachi Gad, while walking in the dark with no shoes on, was not sure what he was stepping on. Afterward, his wife Aliza Gad told him he was stepping on the bodies of neighbors lying dead on the street. The intervention of Dr. Fendel had stopped the grandparents’ horrifying experiences advancement to a mental condition called PTSD.

Nine years old Michael Idan and six-year-old Amalia Idan from Kibbutz Kfar Aza witnessed their parents, mother Smadar and father, Roee Idan, being murdered by Hamas invaders and they thought that their sister, Avigail was killed as well. Michail and Amalia were hiding in a closet for 14 hours inches from their dead mother. The above-mentioned deeply stressful events could’ve led to PTSD. Yet, the therapeutic human interaction by Dr. Fendel had arrested its progression.

A pregnant woman, Sapir Ben Ezra, whose home was burned by terrorists. was close to a due date. She was traumatized by witnessing the loss of their home and was complaining her future child had stopped moving inside her. Thanks to care, shelter and safety provided by the Fendel’s household, the pregnant woman had overcome the effects of the trauma. Eventually, Sapir gave birth to a baby girl named Liam.

The safe rooms are integral part of Israeli life, so is what makes the Israeli society undefeatable and inherently human-the people like Dr. Gedalya Fendel and his family and outcome of their interventions-the “Safe Room” occupants’ friendship, unity, and their acquired sense of hope, optimism and togetherness.