Resilience Amid Ruins

Stand for Israel  |  January 29, 2024

While many still wait to return home to the south after the attacks on October 7, some Israelis have made the brave decision to return to Kfar Aza, one of the hardest hit kibbutzim. One couple is hoping that they are leading by example after moving back home, reports The Times of Israel:

Sipping an espresso in the yard of his small home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, Shahar Shnorman proclaims: “I am an image of victory.”

Last month, Shnorman, 62, and his wife Ayelet Cohen became the first residents to return to their kibbutz, where Hamas terrorists on October 7 murdered about 80 people – one in 10 residents — and abducted another 18.

For 45 days, the couple were the sole residents of what is essentially a sprawling crime scene. At the vacant and scarred shell of a once-vibrant community, the only sounds are thuds of war from Gaza, bird chirps and the winter winds strumming the yellow police tape that spans the doorways of many of their neighbors’ homes.

Recently, a reinforcement came: Last week, a woman who’d stayed away with the rest of the surviving community returned from the hotel where she’d been staying. “So, when it gets dark now, the lights go on in two homes,” Shnorman remarked with satisfaction…