Snapshots Of Israel: Broken And Brave

A few memorable images of life in the here and now.

Dear Reader,

Back in the U.S. after three weeks in Israel, my wife and I are reminded, once again, that more than one place can be “home.”

Sometimes words are inadequate in summing up an experience as complex as a war like no other for Israel, shaking the foundations of a society forced to confront the failure of a government, military and security system that failed to protect its citizens. But that society has rebounded with remarkable resilience, creativity and deep conviction in the rightness of its cause. 

Here are a few photos that, for me, capture the spirit and challenges of the moment.

JERUSALEM’S NEWEST JEWEL: The National Library of Israel, an architectural wonder whose Oct. 17 grand opening in Jerusalem was canceled because of the war, opened with little fanfare a few days later. It is a treasure that contains not only millions of books, but preserves Israeli and Jewish history in an ultra-modern setting. Open and free to all, the library signals faith in the future.

Spanning all cultures in the interest of knowledge.

An inviting reading room bathed in light.

GRATITUDE AND HELPING HANDS take many shapes and forms.

The owner of a building in the heart of Jerusalem’s German Colony, facing the home of the U.S. Ambassador to Israel, expressed a national sentiment with a billboard.

Volunteers for ThankIsraelSoldiers, operating out of the new Simon Wiesenthal Museum of Tolerance in Jerusalem, pack and send a variety of supplies for the IDF, which include letters, notes and drawings (below) for the soldiers.

Shine on: Displaced mothers and daughters from the north, living temporarily at a Jerusalem hotel, were delighted to receive gifts of “pre-loved” costume jewelry from a group of women in Riverdale, New York, participants in a national volunteer project. Each item came with a personal note from the gift-giver to an Israeli “sister.”

A CONSTANT PRESENCE, AND ACHE: It seems no city street is without a poster, symbol or reminder of the hostages.

Waiting to be read: a National Library of Israel exhibit has a chair for each hostage with a book waiting for them, based on their relatives’ suggestions.

The youngest hostage: Kfir Bibas had his first birthday on January 18, the 104th day of captivity. The book title is “Where’s Pluto?”

Big brother, Ariel, 4: The book is “Mommy and Me.” The boys’ mother, Shiri, and father, Yarden, were also kidnapped on October 7. Hamas claims Shiri and the boys were killed by an Israeli bomb attack in Gaza.

Tireless efforts by the parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, an American-Israeli, have made him perhaps the best-known hostage. Part of his arm was blown off on October 7 in the Hamas attack on the Supernova music festival.

A sculpture of the “Bring Them Home” dog tag at Hostage Square in Tel Aviv.

THE HARSH REALITY: Recent graves of IDF soldiers at the national cemetery at Mt. Herzl, and an area prepared for those who will fall. 

SAFE SPACES FOR KIDS: Two days after October 7, an Israel-based non-profit, Early Starters International, which since 2017 has provided play and learning areas for young children in emergency situations around the world, opened the first of 17 programs in Israel. “We knew what to do,” CEO and co-founder Ran Cohen Harounoff, explained. The smiles on the children’s faces at the Jerusalem site the day I visited suggested he was right — and that there is hope for the next generation.

Providing fun experiences and a sense of normalcy, the Jerusalem site serves about two dozen children under the age of eight, displaced from their homes in the south or the north.