Kibbutz Magen: First Border Community to Return Home Inspires Boston

Ever since October 7, Israel seems broken and Jews worldwide feel embattled.  There is no “normal” either there or here.

On that dark day, the clock stopped, and Israelis continue to live with ongoing trauma and displacement. Thirty two communities in the Gaza envelope were attacked by Hamas terrorists, of which twenty eight were Kibbutzim.  It was the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.

The war in Gaza persists as thousands of young and not so young men and women battle Hamas in the south and Hezbollah in the north, not to mention the growing threat  from Houthi rebels and Iran.  One hundred fifteen hostages are still in captivity—their fate unknown– and Israel remains at war and in limbo.

Meanwhile, here in North America, Jews are fighting a different battle against a tsunami of antisemitism and delegitimization of Israel that has not abated, whether on university campuses, in K-12 schools and in municipal governments.

As an activist in local efforts to support Israel and combat antisemitism, I am often exhausted and at times lonely.  So when visiting Israelis come to our community to bear witness to their October 7 experiences, I am there to listen and bear witness.   It helps renew my motivation and provides a welcome opportunity to offer moral support.

For these reasons, I was pleased to learn that Sharon Yunger,  Gilad Blank, and Alon Mador, representatives of Kibbutz Magen would be speaking at my Brookline synagogue Kehillath Israel this past June. I’d like to share with you their remarkable story and why it’s so significant.

Magen is a kibbutz of 450 members located three miles from the Gaza border. In the early morning of October 7, Magen members rapidly realized that what they were experiencing was totally different from any previous threat:  the kibbutz was invaded by dozens of terrorists determined to murder and abduct as many residents as possible.  Unlike many other communities, the kibbutz emergency defense team was able to fend off the Hamas terrorists. The detailed story of this heroic defense is beyond compelling.

See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_nBmWIVPDU

Tragically two Kibbutz members died that day defending Magen: Avi Fleischer who was wounded and died on the way to the hospital and Ophir Yaron who was murdered trying to return to Magen from another kibbutz.

The battle on October 7 was just the beginning of the trauma Kibbutz Magen experienced in its aftermath.  After hiding in safe rooms for countless hours, the kibbutz was ordered to evacuate, with members like Sharon stepping in to organize, as they received news that their kibbutz manager had been kidnapped to Gaza. Residents had just a few hours to throw together belongings to begin the trek to the unknown at Dead Sea hotels.

Our Magen visitors described circumstances and challenges I had never considered:  the mandatory evacuation order sparked a wave of surprise, anger, disbelief and heated discussions among the residents who had never before left their beloved homes and had no intention to do so.  The evacuation itself took place amidst a war zone:  in the background was rocket fire, explosions and the looming threat of explosive drones.  According to Sharon, “the scene was reminiscent of an apocalyptic nightmare.”  They were forced to drive “through roads littered with bodies and vehicles riddled with bullet holes.”  Children were told to avert their eyes.

The challenges of their ad hoc living arrangements at the Dead Sea were immense.  A kibbutz after all is a collective.  How could hotel living possibly replicate this?   It has been a complex situation to say the least:   how does a family of four with a dog cope with living together in one hotel room for months?  How could elderly members be accommodated in a hotel that only contained a handful of accessible units? The list of daily challenges seemed endless.

Nevertheless, although this new reality was characterized by collective trauma and ongoing uncertainty, there was a silver lining: the community found solace and support in both the remarkable hospitality of the hotel staff and the network of care by dedicated volunteers who provided emotional and physical support.

The coping strategies developed by the Kibbutz were impressive. Among their challenges was to preserve the character of the kibbutz community which they did by holding meetings, activities and events and marking holidays to preserve their feelings of togetherness.  Even small actions were taken to help people feel “normal” and restore a sense of control despite the artificial experience of hotel living, such as assigning people to do laundry, set tables and unload dishwashers!

The biggest question of course remained:  would Kibbutz Magen return to its original home and if so, when?  The answer to this question was by no means a given.

Sadly, there are kibbutzim that will not be taking this step any time soon, if at all.  Some have been destroyed physically and will take years to rebuild; others have chosen to partner with other kibbutzim elsewhere in Israel either on a temporary or permanent basis.  Given the horrific massacre occurring on October 7, I think many of us might think twice about returning to life on the border with Gaza, especially with Israel still at war.  But not the residents of Magen.  As of this writing, 90% of the members have returned—the first Kibbutz community located in the geographic area where most of the carnage occurred to have done so.

Why have they returned?   First and foremost, it’s about values: “This is our country and we are committed to protecting our homeland.”  I was particularly moved when Gilad observed “if you light a candle in every kibbutz in Israel, you will see the borders of the country.”

How true!  And without those border kibbutz outposts, Israel will shrink in size.  As it is, there have been over 125,000 internally displaced refugees from the South and over 60,000 in the North, and the children on the northern border have already been told they will not be returning to their schools come September.

Gilad went on to say “we love our home …and I am sure that we will rebuild the community, enlarge the kibbutz, make it bigger, stronger and more beautiful for ourselves and future generations.”  It is such a hopeful vision in the midst of so much devastation and despair.

So what motivated Kibbutz Magen representatives to come to Boston this spring?  Since October 7, they have come to realize that their beloved but insular kibbutz can no longer thrive as a self-sustaining community:  they need to establish bonds of love and living bridges with American Jews.  Sharon, Gilad and Alon returned to Israel with the feeling that they had received a big hug from Boston that strengthened their resolve.

But Magen leaders didn’t come solely to share their story so we could bear witness, and lend them support.  They also felt it important to share lessons learned as a result of their experiences, in order to strengthen our resolve in the  Diaspora.

In fact, their visit was beneficial to the local Jewish community in unanticipated ways. A presentation they gave in Malden at a local synagogue was attended by four non-Jewish members of the City Council. These elected representatives were eager to hear a first-hand account of October 7, as they faced a vote on a one-sided anti-Israel ceasefire resolution in their city.  A day later, the Magen representatives met with the mayor at his invitation, and no doubt strengthened his resolve regarding his ongoing support to Jewish residents of the city.  Although Malden ultimately did pass a resolution, the version ultimately enacted was rewritten to serve as a peace resolution, probably in part as a result of their encounter with the Malden community.

Jessica Slavin Connelly, a LICSW and Jewish educator, is a resident of Malden and a member of the Malden Jewish Alliance formed in the wake of October 7.  She observed that “it was extremely moving and painful to bear witness to two very humble survivors of October 7^th who are sharing their experience, which no doubt brings up trauma and emotional exhaustion….”  She noted that the visitors were able to focus on the “bravery that helped save people…, the resiliency… and the future of the community.”

Jessica also pointed to the key leadership role that Magen is now playing in the Gaza envelope as a beacon of resolve to the other Kibbutzim, many of which are also in the process of returning and rebuilding, in spite of ongoing war and fear.  This is a very small region with a high degree of interdependence and personal relationships. Everyone on Magen has experienced the loss of members of neighboring kibbutzim. Kibbutz Magen is indeed a shining example of communal resiliency, but they are a traumatized community and can’t do it alone.

Locally Jewish and Israel advocates are likewise worn down by community battles combatting bias and hate.  While the details may differ, the efforts to combat antisemitism and anti-Zionism in ongoing, whether in Brookline, Malden, Newton, Medford, Salem, Boston, Cambridge, Somerville or Northampton.  The list seems endless, and it’s easy to burn out from exhaustion and despair. Many Jews and Israelis no longer feel as safe as they once did in their cities and towns post October 7.

The larger point here is that Israelis and American Jews need each other now more than ever before.  October 7 has changed all of us in ways we are all still processing.

The good news is that Magen plans to come back for a follow-up visit this September for the purpose of reconnecting with the people they met last spring and reaching out to new folks to seek ways to partner, collaborate and strengthen each other’s resolve.

We are all in this together and need mutual support to meet our challenges.

I say, welcome back Kibbutz Magen, and let’s get to work!