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October 7 Survivors, Then and Now

JL;DR SUMMARY Following the tragic events of October 7, 2023, Lee Yaron documents the deeply personal stories of those affected by the conflict between Israel and Hamas through interviews conducted over two years. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

ResilienceSurvivorsGriefKibbutz Kfar AzaHamas ConflictAshdodOctober 7, 2023Torpiashvili FamilyEpstein Family

Places mentioned

Ashdod, Southern District, Israel
"The Torpiashvili family has about 45 seconds from the start of a siren to get to shelter. The missiles come in that quickly. Their apartment in Ashdod has its own safe room, a privilege many Israelis lack."
Ashkelon, Southern District, Israel
"Through the following days, as the sirens continued, Tamar checked in repeatedly through WhatsApp with her friend Adele, who lives in Ashkelon, as part of her escalating anxiety."
Beersheba, Southern District, Israel
"Despite the warnings, they continued toward Soroka Hospital in Beersheva, usually a 40-minute drive."
Tel Aviv, Central District, Israel
"When Iran unleashed over 500 ballistic missiles at Israeli cities during 12 days of war in June, dozens of buildings crumbled, thousands were evacuated from their homes and civilians were killed in Tel Aviv, Haifa, Beersheva and elsewhere."
Haifa, Central District, Israel
"When Iran unleashed over 500 ballistic missiles at Israeli cities during 12 days of war in June, dozens of buildings crumbled, thousands were evacuated from their homes and civilians were killed in Tel Aviv, Haifa, Beersheva and elsewhere."
Kfar Aza, Southern District, Israel
"The attack on Kibbutz Kfar Aza claimed five members of Ayelet Shachar Epsteins family, including her son, Netta, whose portrait now hangs on her wall."
Matan, Southern District, Israel
"A young lemon tree stands sentinel at the entrance of the Epstein familys new home in Matan in central Israel, its slender branches reaching toward a hand-painted ceramic sign above the doorway that bears the family name in cheerful Hebrew letters."
Migdal HaEmek, Northern District, Israel
"Eitan Kusenov considers himself blessed. Others might call it optimism. But then again, few 19-year-olds have survived four wars, two direct rocket strikes on their home and won a lottery. These wars have forced me to grow up. Im not the troublemaker I was back in Ukraine before all this began, Eitan says from his modest home in Migdal HaEmek, a northern city in the Jezreel Valley."
Kharkiv, Kharkivshchyna, Ukraine
"Eitan was born in Kharkiv, Ukraine, in 2006."
Odessa, Odeshchyna, Ukraine
"As hunger gnawed, Marina learned of Tikva (hope), an orphanage in Odessa that offered Jewish children free room and board, education and medical care."

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