Nofei Habesor Class of 2024
September third 2023 was the first day of school for the seniors in Nofei Habesor High School in the Mateh Eshkol region which serviced all the nearby kibbutzim and moshavim. As homage to the annual tradition of pranking the eleventh graders, a few seniors had broken into the school at six AM and spread compost and fertilizer all over the school. The principal demanded that whoever did the crime should come forward and admit it by midday. No one came forward and the seniors spent their first day giddily videoing themselves cleaning literal crap off the floors, walls, and desks.
End of September was already the beginning of the chagim and the students were now planning the upcoming annual senior heritage trip to Poland to visit and witness the labor and death camps. Shachar Reuven, a high school senior, expressed it very succinctly when he described what happened next. “We didn’t need to go to Poland anymore, because Poland came to us.” Shachar Reuven’s girlfriend and also his classmate, Eliya Metzger, had both her grandparents Tami and Yoram Metzger taken hostage from Nir Oz where she also lived.
The 12th grade coordinating teacher, Eyal Devori, was on vacation with his family in Cypress on Oct. 7th. He had a student message him begging him to contact the army but all he could do was lie and say, “Stay strong, the army is on its way.”
The grade suffered many losses of family members murdered and taken hostage, but also the murder of a classmate, Mor Meir. She was with her family in the mamad when her dad, Doron Meir, decided he was going out to defend his kibbutz. Mor, always a daddy’s girl who greatly admired her dad, demanded that he wouldn’t go alone and disregarded her family’s pleas. Doron and Mor Meir were shot instantly by terrorists who were already in the house.
There were also two hostages among the 12th graders. Noam Or who was taken hostage together with his sister Alma in Be’eri. Noam was in a relationship with his boyfriend Goma Lev, another classmate. Ofir Engel was staying at his girlfriend’s house, a classmate named Yuval Sharabi, when he was taken hostage together with her dad and her uncle.
By mid October the entire grade was already dispersed in different hotels all across the country. The 12th graders decided to organize a get-together in one of the hotels a short while later. The seniors finally heard some much needed good news when Noam Or, Ofir Engel, and Eliya Metzger’s grandmother were returned after 54 days. The reunions were heartfelt and exceptionally joyous.
Misrad Hachinuch concluded that it would be best for everyone to gradually return to routine and daily structure and decided on opening four separate schools for the seniors of Nofei Habesor high school, in accordance with where they were currently evacuated.
All of a sudden the students’ WhatsApp groups came to life buzzing with thousands of messages. The kids had made their decision. The 161 students who mostly grew up together and knew each other from age three were not going to settle on four separate schools. They had been together until now and they would also spend their last year together and graduate together.
Their teachers and principals told them that it was a fantasy that would never happen. The students all signed a letter together which they sent to Misrad Hachinuch demanding to be together in a dormitory for their last year where they could lean on each other and all heal together. To the surprise of the adults, the kids’ wish was granted. Misrad Hachinuch would open a dorm for them.
Shachar Reuven found the perfect spot for the dorm in Anna Ein Gedi, a guest house right near Yam Hamelach. The place was approved and now almost all the young eager students were being bussed to finally come together. The kids felt that being together was their anchor towards healing after all the losses they’d been through. They barbecued together on disposable grills, made themselves jacuzzis out of portable swimming pools, and just chilled together.
A few students who didn’t feel ready to come in the beginning eventually gave into the cajoles of their classmates and joined the dorm, spawning new mini-reunions. Omer Avital was one 12th grader who decided to join his classmates in the dorm. His dad was in the Kitat Konnenut and went out to defend his kibbutz. Omer took his dad’s home gun and stood at the window of a second story bedroom aiming the gun. At one point he met his dad’s gaze and was convinced that his dad would be furious at him for taking his gun. He was waiting for his dad to come home and yell at him. Omer never had the privilege of his dad yelling at him because his dad never came home. Gil Avital is buried in the kibbutz where he lived.
Mor Meir’s boyfriend, Yoel Bitton, had been practicing a dance that Mor had choreographed to perform at their graduation together. As the final tribute to Mor, all of the seniors learned the dance from Yoel and performed it together at the graduation opening.
The kids have mixed views about going back to the kibbutzim, especially Be’eri, Nir Oz, and Nirim. Some of the seniors feel strongly that the kibbutz is their home and that they will continue to live and raise their children in the same idyllic communities that they love so much. Others say that they don’t want to pass on any post-trauma to future generations. The students are currently doing their shnat sheirut waiting for their enlistment to the IDF.