I always tell my grandchildren: walk the straight path, speak the truth—it will bring blessing. Be good people, and do not be afraid to defend the weak. That will make you strong.
When I was a child at Kibbutz Geva, there was a group of immigrant children from Turkey. The kibbutz members did not like them, and I helped one Turkish girl.
Eighty years later, I met her again at a hotel in Tiberias.
A woman evacuated from one of the moshavim approached me and said:
“Aharon Shemesh, you helped me integrate into the country back then, and all these years I prayed that I would meet you again. My prayer came true.”
She reminded me that the kibbutz boys harassed the girls, and that I protected her.
All these years we stayed at home despite the shelling, but it was our children who insisted that we leave Kiryat Shmona. From my point of view, I would have stayed. At first, I moved to a hotel in Tiberias, and later we joined our daughter in her apartment in Migdal.
I grew up at Kibbutz Geva, where I received a good education. I am deeply grateful for that period of my life.
In Kiryat Shmona, two houses were built for people expected to arrive from Tel Aviv, and for two years they stood empty.
We organized a delegation to the Ministry of Interior in Nazareth Illit and demanded a lottery among Kiryat Shmona residents so they could improve their housing conditions.
I do not believe in God, but I prayed that I would win one of those apartments. In the lottery, I received exactly the apartment I had hoped for.
70, born in Israel.
Her home is in Shlomi. Evacuated to the Dan Mount Scopus Hotel, Jerusalem.
Interviewer: Nava Tal
90, born in Yemen.
Her home is in Shlomi. Evacuated to the Dan Mount Scopus Hotel, Jerusalem.
Interviewer: Nava Tal
69.
Immigrated to Israel from the former Soviet Union in 1990.
Her home is in Shlomi. Evacuated to the Dan Mount Scopus Hotel, Jerusalem.
Interviewer: Nava Tal
76, born in Tunisia.
Her home is in Shlomi. Evacuated to the Dan Mount Scopus Hotel, Jerusalem.
Interviewer: Nava Tal
70, born in Casablanca, Morocco.
Her home is in Shlomi. Evacuated to the Dan Mount Scopus Hotel, Jerusalem.
Interviewer: Nava Tal
69, born in Israel (Tiberias).
Her home is in Shlomi. Evacuated to the Dan Mount Scopus Hotel.
Interviewer: Nava Tal
87, born in Libya.
Immigrated from Morocco in 1949.
Her home is in Shlomi. Evacuated to the Dan Mount Scopus Hotel, Jerusalem.
Interviewer: Nava Tal
83, born in India.
Immigrated to Israel in 1966.
Her home is in Shlomi. Evacuated to the Dan Mount Scopus Hotel, Jerusalem.
Interviewer: Nava Tal
69, born in Morocco.
Her home is in Shlomi. Evacuated to the Dan Mount Scopus Hotel, Jerusalem.
Interviewer: Nava Tal
70, born in Israel (Safed).
Her home is in Shlomi. Evacuated to the Dan Mount Scopus Hotel, Jerusalem.
Interviewer: Nava Tal
