Page 18 - Boca ViewPointe - December '24

Page 18, Viewpointe December 2024
Reflections On Oct. 7th:

Men’s Mission Bears Witness To Israel’s Trauma

From Nov. 7-14, a Men’s Mission from the Jewish courtyard of the residence.
Federation of South Palm Beach County traveled throughout Outside each house are flags
Israel, visiting with those impacted by the atrocities on in various colors and coded
October 7th and strengthening bonds between Federation, with stickers, denoting
our Israel-based partner agencies and the people we help. each home’s residents as
While on the mission, Co-Chair David Friedman reflected “murdered”, “captured”,
upon what he had experienced after visiting a kibbutz “rescued”, etc.
devastated by Hamas’ terrorist attacks. As we stand on the porch
of the Bibas family home,
the familiar images of the
beautiful redheads, then-
9-month-old Kfir and his
big brother, then-4-year-old
Ariel, haunt me, as they have
for more than a year. We
see the children’s toys and
their parents’ wine and olive
oil, sitting, waiting for the
family to return home. The
boys and their parents have
now been in Hamas captivity
for more than 400 days. Men’s Mission Group
Mission Guide Shlomo and Co-Chair David Friedman We are heading now to
Kibbutz Be’eri, and later, the site of the Nova festival. If you or a neighbor are in need of help, please
November 11, 2024: Today, we bear witness. Meetings with Nova survivors and hostage families will contact Ruth & Norman Rales Jewish Family Services
As we climb back on the bus, leaving behind a place follow. at 561-852-3333. In addition, our main Federation
whose significance will ripple for generations and change the Today, we bear witness. telephone number, 561-852-3100, is monitored regularly
history of Am Yisrael, I need to write this while my thoughts Deepest thanks to Boca Pointe Federation Campaign for voicemail messages.
are fresh in mind, and my emotions are high and raw. There Chairs: Jane and Dan Fishkoff, and to Committee Learn more about our Federation and how you can
is a lot to process, and I plan to journal more later, when I’m Members: Rhoda Berkow, Allen Brayer, Richard Glazer & help at www.jewishboca.org - or contact Shirley Gross
back in Florida, and can review my photos and more clearly Elaine Kaplan, Harold Katz, Joel Meisner, Arlene Penner, at shirleyg@bocafed.org or 561.852.3182 (leave a
collect my thoughts. Murray Pitkowsky, Mel Schoen, Doris & Stuart Zeuner, voicemail). 
Our morning was spent at Kibbutz Nir Oz, surely one of for their continued dedication and leadership.
the saddest places on the planet. Nir Oz is less than one mile
from Gaza and directly overlooks the city of Khan Yunis.
Sporadically, we can hear explosions, and as we leave, we
see and hear a drone flying over Gaza. It is a clear, beautiful
morning, and we see the City of Rafah in the distance.

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Kibbutz Nir Oz

Blooming from the desert, Kibbutz Nir Oz had been
named one of Israel’s official botanical gardens. This is NOW ACCEPTING NEW PATIENTS
truly paradise lost, with large shade trees, flowers and
succulents growing everywhere. It must have been a
beautiful place when filled with the sights and sounds
of the idyllic life of its 400 residents. Today, the trees Boca Raton Concierge Medicine Doctor
here appear to be weeping, understandable given the
inhumanity they silently witnessed on October 7th.
We are guided by a kind and gentle man named Shlomo, Board Certified in
who has called Nir Oz his home and its residents his family
for 57 years. He embodies the incredible strength and Internal Medicine
resilience of the entire nation of Israel, moving forward with Added Qualifications in
in the face of unimaginable sadness and suffering.
On that most evil of days, Hamas killed and/or captured Geriatrics (2002).
117 innocent people here. More than 100 of Hamas’
Nukhba forces spent eight hours in Nir Oz, completely Steven E. Reznick, MD, FACP
conquering this small kibbutz, looting, raping, kidnapping
and murdering its residents. Bodies of some of the Voted a “Best Doctor”
murdered were taken to Gaza in anticipation for use in by his peers.
future negotiations with Israel. Of 120 homes here, only
six were left untouched.
In addition to the armed terrorists, more than 1,000 Call to request a complimentary meeting
Gazan civilians – men, women and children of all ages
– made as many as four round trips between Nir Oz and with Dr. Reznick.
Gaza, taking everything they could carry or drive. Then
they simply all left, leaving an incomprehensible ocean of
pain, death and destruction in their wake. The IDF arrived 561.368.0191
much later, making Nir Oz the only kibbutz where not a
single bullet was fired by the army to protect and rescue
the residents. 7280 W. Palmetto Park Road | 205N
As far as the eye can see, there are burned and bullet- Boca Raton, FL 33433
riddled houses, some with cracked walls and torn roofs www.bocaconciergedoc.com
from the grenades that were thrown at them. Some are
simply burned to the ground, including one with an elderly
person’s walker sitting in what was perhaps the outdoor