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Message from the Desk of
Daphne Lazar Price
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With so many aspects of October 7th affecting Israeli women, Jofa’s leadership decided to organize a delegation to Israel to volunteer, to witness and to learn. Over 3 days, from January 8th through January 10th, 35 participants gathered to bear witness. But we did so much more than that. In addition to hearing more details about what transpired on October 7th, we studied, we prayed, and we fell deeper in love with being a part of the Jewish people. We even managed to bring moments of joy and laughed and danced, with the hope of better days. And throughout we learned of the central roles that women played and continue to play throughout this conflict. Time and again we were thanked for coming, for bearing witness, and for bringing our Israeli hosts’ messages back to our communities.
| Mission participants pay their respects at the Nova Festival site. | Pictured above, L-R, Rabba Sara Hurwitz, Dr. Cochav Elkayam-Levy, Daphne Lazar Price, Allie Alperovich, Dr. Mindy Feldman Hecht and Sharon Brick Deshen. | |
We heard from Dr. Cochav Elkayam-Levy, Chair of the Civil Commission on October 7th Crimes by Hamas Against Women and Children about the systemic weaponization of sex crimes that were perpetrated by Hamas against women and children. In the months since the attacks, Dr. Elkayam-Levy has become the public face to raise global awareness and is collecting artifacts to create an archive to memorialize what happened that day. Our group also met with Moran Zer Katzenstein (pictured right) about the work of Bonot Alternativa — a grassroots effort of 120,000 women volunteers — whose mission in the lead-up to October 7 was to promote social equality, empower women and raise awareness of violence against women. On October 8 this organization made an important and temporary pivot to establish Chamals (short for cheder milachama – war room) that serve as volunteer centers. We joined their cadre of volunteers and filled boxes with supplies for evacuees from the kibbutzim that were destroyed.
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And we prayed. We prayed with Natalie Ben Ami, whose father Ohad is still in captivity (Natalie’s mother Raz was also kidnapped and was returned to safety in the hostage exchange.) We prayed with Shelly Shem Tov, whose son Omer was kidnapped from the Nova music festival. We prayed with Rabbanit Anat Sharbat, who shows up at Hostage Square every Shabbat to lead Kabbalat Shabbat and Havdalah, and whose cousin Edan Alexander also remains in captivity. We prayed with Rabbi Doron Perez, the head of the World Mizrachi Movement, who shared with us what it was like to celebrate one wounded son’s wedding, while another son remains in captivity. Amplifying the efforts of warrior mom Rachel Goldberg Polin, we each bore a sticker indicating the number of days that the hostages remain in captivity as she does each day for her son Hersh who was taken from the Nova festival.
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Finally, we prayed with Sarit Zussman (pictured left) at the entrance of Har Herzl for her fallen son Ben, z”l. She shared memories of Ben’s life and how through his stories, she finds faith and hope. When we visited Ben’s grave, as well as other soldiers who had fallen, participants comforted those who sat at the freshly dug gravesites of their loved ones.
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 |  | We learned with Rabbi Seth Farber, director of ITIM, about the issues related to women and personal status that intersect with the war. Sara Evron, CEO of the Religious Kibbutz Movement, and herself an evacuee shared with us her experience on Kibbutz Sa’ad on October 7th and her fellow kibbutznikim’s need to return to their homes. We learned with Rabbi Herzl Hefter of Beit Midrash Har’el (pictured above) about how we can use lessons from the Torah to reevaluate our collective narrative that is so often repeated in the stories that we tell. We heard from Efrat Shapira Rosenberg, Chairwoman of Ne’emanei Tora VaAvoda and Kolech, who shared a wide set of perspectives about Israeli civil society and how things have changed from October 6th to October 8th. Drs. Galia Diller Zaks and Aderet Malka, two rabbinic students at Beit Midrash Har’el who are also therapists, reflected on the intersection of this war with their own personal lives and professional roles. We also heard from Dr. Michal Prins about the impact of this war on married couples, including seeking guidance on keeping the laws related to niddah and mikvah attendance in trying times despite pushback from less sympathetic (male) religious leaders.
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Sharon Laufer (pictured left) shared with us about her work at the Shura base which is responsible for preparing female soldiers for burial. Her holy task can only be done by a woman for a woman. She works with a dedicated group that has evolved from volunteering to an official army position. She described in detail what it is like to be responsible and to provide loving care for those women who were killed al kiddush Hashem, from the moment they arrive at the Shura base until they reach their final resting place.
| The delegation visits with a group of tatzpitaniot (army spotters) at their base. | Amidst all of the hardship, heartbreak and devastation, we shared an absolutely joyous and festive evening with an all-women unit of tatzpitaniot (army spotters). We danced to the music of the magical sister duet Tandu and learned about the efforts of Aluma, an organization that supports Orthodox women in the IDF. We were also privileged to see the tatzpitaniot at work and watch them surveil in real time. These women are the eyes of the army and we are grateful for all they do. | |
We concluded our mission with a visit to the Kotel where we participated in a large prayer service for the return of the hostages, followed by an evening of inspirational messages from Jofa founder Blu Greenberg, Rabbi Yitz Greenberg and founder of Yeshivat Maharat, Rabbi Avi Weiss.
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Despite all the heartache and heaviness, life continues. May women continue to be heard. May the world believe Israeli women. May the hostages be freed immediately. May the soldiers return home now. May all those grieving receive consolation. May all those in need of healing be healed.
May good overcome evil.
Am Yisrael Chai.
Daphne Lazar Price, Executive Director
| Dr. Mindy Feldman Hecht, Rabba Sara Hurwitz and Daphne Lazar Price take a break from picking lemons in Yad Mordechai. | |
