Story : Life

A photography exhibition and life stories of the builders of the land, the founding generation, who were evacuated from their homes in the North following October 7th

“Do not uproot what is planted. Do not forget the hope” (Naomi Shemer)

The exhibition “Story : Life” presents life stories and photographs of the elderly residents of the North who were evacuated from their homes following October 7th and the Iron Swords War and who have been staying in hotels in Jerusalem and the Galilee area for over a year.

The project is unique in that it is based on “spiritual accompaniment” interviews. That is, the interviews are structured in a way that gives space to the brokenness, worry, and fear, but places great emphasis on the strengths and resources of the interviewees. These interviews seek to remind both the interviewee and the reader of the story that a person is not only the broken part of their life. The crisis joins the complete person, their past, their dreams, their worries, and their hopes. We placed the story alongside photographs of the interviewees in their temporary homes, the hotels. A life story set against an unclear and unknown “present.”

A significant value on the Passover holiday is “And you shall tell your son,” and this is exactly what we want to invite our society to do during these Passover days—to listen and connect to the story that will pass from generation to generation.

The war and the evacuations from homes constituted a complete breach of routine, the uprooting of roots, and the opening of a new chapter in life at a stage that is usually “a summing up of life.” Especially for the elderly in society, those who have seen much, this chapter has raised many questions about the future, about the present, and sometimes even about the past.

Those who built their homes, their families, and the country with their own two hands found themselves in a temporary dwelling, not knowing where they will return, when they will return, and with whom they will return.

Precisely at this time, we wanted to hear their life story—to express gratitude to the founders and builders of the land (men and women), to give meaning to the present, and a promise to continue building, to draw a thread from them onward to the future.