Perahia Alfassie
70, born in Israel.
Her home is in Shlomi. Evacuated to the Dan Mount Scopus Hotel, Jerusalem.
Interviewer: Nava Tal
Life in Menara is hard—most of the year it’s too cold to sit outside, and proximity to the border makes it challenging. What keeps people there, for some, is inertia. I was not raised with Zionist ideology; I simply stayed with my parents.
There are heroic stories of everyone who died for Menara, but that was never the narrative of Menara. Home—that is the main narrative.
I tell stories about Menara. One project I wanted to establish there was a café where people could hear the story of the place—because Menara is symbolic. For five years, we were alone on the mountain.
Values in our family: paying attention to the surroundings and their needs, action, and taking initiative.
I practice gratitude, speaking and seeing with positive eyes, and it builds resilience.
The thought of returning to the kibbutz frightens me.
I miss my home, cooking, privacy (though sometimes solitude in Menara is difficult). I know many will not return (and they have justified reasons)—and they will no longer be called traitors!
My son will return; he established a brewery called “Cooking Zionism,” a hospitality space for parents and children. The logo on the bottle is a painting by my father.
I specialized in elder care without formally studying social work, and I loved working at “Veterans of the Galilee.” Life is a lesson, and after every personal crisis, I went to study to renew myself, not necessarily to earn a living. Recently, I also studied color diagnosis and positive psychology.
Since October 7, I have been occupied with a song by Chava Alberstein about a volcano that erupts, whose residents leave and yet return despite knowing it could erupt again. It is a home, and it contains everything.
We are living through a kind of loss in which we cannot see the end. We lost our home and our faith.
Menara has never been evacuated: in 1948 only children were evacuated, and during one operation, school children were removed from the kibbutz. In 2006, during the Second Lebanon War, I did not stay in Menara and was considered a traitor. This time, evacuation came with the trauma of what happened in the Gaza Envelope. The army kept preparing us by telling us that for them to operate optimally, we would need to evacuate the kibbutz. The children came to take the elderly parents. At the beginning of the war, I stayed with my daughter until I moved to the hotel.
Most of the homes that were affected – were homes with someone living in them- this is a different kind of war! Through the years, we heard all kinds of digging; and witnessed a building on the other side of the border. We were innocent and didn’t believe that they would give up their beautiful homes and endanger them.
Love for my family is the most meaningful thing—my parents and my children. A year after my mother passed away, we held a memorial, and afterward, we decided to celebrate: every holiday, the whole family gathers at my place, even now in the hotel.
I have a collection of dreidels. I went to the kibbutz, to my house that was damaged, to retrieve this collection. Among them is one dreidel, made of tin by a kindergarten teacher in 1920, with surprises inside for the children.
The inscription reads:
“The miracle dreidel in Kibbutz Kfar Giladi, 1920–1930, by a kindergarten teacher who wanted to make the children happy.”
Every Hanukkah, the children were told the dreidel came from the Matityahu Cave in Modiin. The teacher placed small surprises inside, like toothbrushes and pins she made herself. For the children, it was a great wonder.
70, born in Israel.
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
Tamar Katz / 81 / Born in Chulata. Lives in Kibbutz Malkiya /
Evacuated to the Nof Kinneret Hotel | Spiritual support and interviews: Bracha Tor /
Photography: Sharon Levy
Tzipa Peretz, 77, born in Kibbutz Dafna, evacuated from Kibbutz Dafna to the Nof Kinneret Hotel. Interview: Bracha Tor
Photography: Sharon Levy
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
90, born in Yemen.
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
Age: 84
Born: Iran
Immigrated to Israel: 1951
Home: Kiryat Shmona
Evacuated to: An apartment in Migdal
Interviewer: Bracha Tor
Interview location: Oncology Day Clinic, Ziv Medical Center
Katzir / 88 / Born in Givat Michael, lives in Dafna / Evacuated to the Nof Kinneret Hotel |
Spiritual support and interviews: Bracha Tor / Photography: Sharon Levy
74 / Born in Argentina, lives in Kibbutz Manara / Evacuated to the Nof Kinneret Hotel |
Spiritual support and interviews: Bracha Tor / Photography: Sharon Levy
69, born in Morocco.
Her home is in Shlomi. Evacuated to the Dan Mount Scopus Hotel, Jerusalem.
Interviewer: Nava Tal
79. Born in Bahrain. lives in Moshav Margaliot.
Evacuated to Hotel at Kibbutz Lavi.
Spiritual care and interviews: Bracha Tor. |
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
Age 93, born in Romania, immigrated to Israel in 1935, lives in Malkiya, evacuated to the Nof Kinneret Hotel.
Interview: Bracha Tor
Age 93, born in Romania, immigrated to Israel in 1935, lives in Malkiya, evacuated to the Nof Kinneret Hotel.
Interview: Bracha Tor
Sefi / 81 / Born in Iran, lives in Kibbutz Malkiya / Evacuated to the Nof Kinneret Hotel |
Spiritual support and interviews: Bracha Tor / Photography: Sharon Levy
Naftali Shmueli, age 91.5, born in Jerusalem, lives in Kibbutz Malkiya, evacuated to the Nof Kinneret Hotel | Interview and photography: Bracha Tor
Shlomo Turjeman / 79 / Born in Morocco, lives in Shlomi / Evacuated to the Dan Mount Scopus Hotel |
Spiritual support and interviews: Nava Tal / Photography: Dor Pazuelo
70, born in Casablanca, Morocco.
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
Yael Karidi / 86 / Born in Givatayim, lives in Kibbutz Malkiya / Evacuated to the Nof Kinneret Hotel |
Spiritual support and interviews: Bracha Tor / Photography: Sharon Levy
Alegria Turjeman / 77 / Born in Morocco, lives in Shlomi / Evacuated to the Dan Mount Scopus Hotel
Spiritual support and interviews: Nava Tal / Photography: Dor Pazuelo
76, born in Tunisia.
Her home is in Shlomi. Evacuated to the Dan Mount Scopus Hotel, Jerusalem.
Interviewer: Nava Tal