Showing up for one another

I first met the community of Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak in November 2023. I had travelled to Eilat to spend time with family friends who had been evacuated there after October 7.

Like so many communities in Israel’s south, they were living in shock and deep grief. Loved ones had been killed. Others were still missing, not yet even confirmed to be hostages.

Life had been compressed into improvised spaces. Classrooms and kindergartens ran from hotel lobbies. Makeshift laundries stood in outdoor tents. Families were trying to rebuild fragments of normal life while still processing a trauma that had barely begun to be understood.

Since then, the Melbourne Jewish community has built a close relationship with Nir Yitzhak. We brought children from the kibbutz to Melbourne for a brief respite from the relentless stress of war and built connections between our communities.

Earlier this month I returned to Israel with a group of Jewish Australians to meet with organisations rebuilding after October 7 and to understand the challenges and opportunities ahead.