It is hard to believe that more than a year has passed since the genocidal attacks of October 7th. Even though the written word comes to both of us pretty easily, we still struggle with writing about the traumatic experiences of this past year. As we write this note in November, it feels important to own that it is impossible to capture the full narrative throughout the pages of this Jofa Journal for so many reasons. First, new details about the attacks and their aftermath—from witnesses’ accounts to hostages’ testimonials to soldiers’ experiences—are still emerging. Second, when we embarked on collecting articles for this issue of the Jofa Journal, we recognized that we might be—and indeed we still are—in the middle of this war.
Third, there is so much more that we could have included in this time capsule of sorts. We know from reports, conversations, and meetings that the day-today experiences of women and men in Israel—civilians and enlisted persons alike—are all-consuming, directly impacted because of ongoing safety concerns, or the Adapted from an article published in The Jewish Link, January 18, 2024 Iam one of many people who have gone to Israel on a mission. In January, Jofa and Maharat brought over 30 people to give ḥizuk and support. In fact, we got so much more than we gave, and the images that I have witnessed have forever changed me. As we were putting together the itinerary for the mission, we debated whether we should visit the devastated kibbutzim in the south. The concern was not so much with our safety. Rather, there are some who argue that visiting sites of destruction is a form of voyeurism—“war tourism” as someone described it. In fact, this very debate was happening in Kfar Azza itself. Some members of the kibbutz wanted to keep their homes private. They wanted to retain a sense of dignity, even though many of their homes were shattered and sullied by Hamas terrorists. Others, however, wanted, even needed, people to see the atrocities firsthand. They wanted us to bear witness to their pain. Bearing witness. I have heard that phrase over and over again in relation to the terrible atrocities perpetrated on October 7th. What does it mean to bear witness? The quintessential phrase in our Jewish tradition is the Shema: “Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One” (Deuteronomy 6:4). In the Torah, the ayin and the daled are written larger than the other letters. Put together, the letters spell the word eid, meaning witness. In this context, we are called to be a witness to God’s oneness.
