A taste of resilience: October 7 survivors from Netiv Ha'asara open cafe in Sarona, Tel Aviv

As of Tuesday, survivors of the October 7 massacre from Netiv Ha'asara have opened a new coffee shop, “Cafe Otef,” in the Sarona Market in Tel Aviv.

The cafe will be run by three young residents of Netiv Ha'asara, Noa Shabat, and brothers Yotam and Raz Kider. Additional residents of the community will take part in operating the new cafe. 

Cafe Otef—Netiv Ha'asara was designed to be a gathering place for the community and provide employment opportunities for residents. While the residents are displaced, another objective of the cafe is to connect the host community to the displaced communities. 

The coffee shop's profits will go directly to the Netiv Ha'asara community, which will collectively decide how to allocate the funds and invest them back into the community, with an emphasis on rehabilitation. 

On October 7, twenty of Netiv Ha'asara’s community was murdered, and 1,080 residents of the community, including 320 children, were evacuated, mainly to Tel Aviv.

Itai Levy, chairman of the Netiv Ha'asara committee and representative of the community in the Rebirth Directorate, expressed feelings of unbearable sadness and profound anger. “On the seventh of October, we tragically lost 20 members of our community – founders, members of the emergency squad, our children, our brothers. Each one of them represented a world unto themselves.” 

He also shared that although the community is displaced, they are hopeful they will return soon. He added, “In our journey, we have encountered remarkable people, witnessed public care, experienced pure love, and encountered a deep desire to help.”

He then explained that under these circumstances, it was essential to open Cafe Otef for the community of Netiv Ha'asara. “The objectives of this project are manifold: to unite our community, provide a platform for the next generation to express themselves, and foster connections with the residents of Tel Aviv, who have embraced us since our arrival. We harbor hope that this social initiative will flourish.”

Levy concluded, “We yearn for days of silence, [and we are] praying for the safe return of our soldiers and the abducted."

The shop will serve coffee, baked goods, and fresh sandwiches baked on-site while incorporating sauces and spreads from the Gaza border area. Ruthi Russo, a well-known chef and culinary expert, will oversee the brewing and baking, adding her own style to the cuisine to connect the products to Israeli agricultural traditions. 

Cafe Otef will sell products from the Gaza border area and products produced by community members from the Gaza border area, including wines, jams, forest fruits, cakes, and more. 

They will also sell custom products designed particularly for this cafe and the expected seven others. These products include shirts, mugs, aprons, fabric bags, and others. On the weekends, the cafe will also sell flowers. Purchasing products from the shop in a “picnic package” and sitting around the coffee shop is also possible.

 Cafe Otef will be a chain of seven coffee shops

This cafe is the first of a chain of seven coffee shops, each of which corresponds to a Gaza border community affected by the October 7 attacks. The coffee shops will be owned and managed by the residents of the kibbutzim and the cities they represent.

Initially, each coffee shop will be located in the temporary residential area of the displaced communities, and later, they will move with the residents when they return to their original community on the Gaza border. 

The events of October 7 rattled the nation, but nobody more than the residents of the Gaza border communities who lost their loved ones were evacuated and uprooted from their homes. As they left behind their previous lives in rural and agricultural-based communities, most were embraced by “unharmed communities in central cities, and now live in complexes, high buildings, hotels, and other solutions. Many of their homes in the affected communities were left in ruins as terrorists burned through their villages. 

In their new temporary places of residence, residents of these communities feel they do not always have the opportunity to remain a united community within a place that allows everyone to be together. These Cafe Otef chains have the aim to fill this void. 

It has also been created to build the communities’ psychological resilience, and to enable them to engage in work and employment, providing them hope for recovery and a sense of normality. Establishing the chain will preserve and share each community's story.

Specifically, at Cafe Otef—Netiv Ha'asara, visitors will also see the "Anemones Before the Rain" exhibit by the Israeli and international artist Yafa Solomon. In it, 1,400 anemones at all heights will be "displayed" in the coffee shop complex to commemorate October 7.

The Coffee House Management Academy mentors and trains coffee shop employees on the fundamentals of coffee house management.

The Sarona complex management donated one of the historic Templar conservation buildings for the project for six months at no cost. The Tech4Israel fund, established immediately after October 7 by Israeli high-tech leaders to provide immediate support to organizations and initiatives across the country and to assist the war victims, joined the project with a significant donation and support. Additional donors include the Central Beverage Company, Yakhin, Nirlat, and more.

The entrepreneurs of Cafe Otef are Tamir Berlko, Michal Tzion, Hagit Avron, Limor Erlichman, Anat Nativ, Adi Cohen, Ziv Kuritzky, and David Marglin. 

Berlko founded the Arcaffe chain and many other Israeli and global endeavors. Berlko said, “The idea for 'Cafe Otef' was born out of a basic need we identified among the displaced communities, which is the need to remain a united community while starting to build a new routine in their new, temporary or permanent homes.”

He added, “No less important, the project is intended to create a direct and connecting encounter with the local hosting community. We invite the residents of Tel Aviv - Jaffa and visitors to the city to come to the first branch of Cafe Otef in Sarona and enjoy all that such a connection between people has to offer."

The other communities scheduled to have cafes are Kibbutz Re'im, Kibbutz Zikim, Kibbutz Yad Mordechai, and Sderot. Kibbutz Re'im's cafe will also initially be based in Tel Aviv, while the rest will be located next to their respective communities.

Cafe Otef--Netiv Ha'asara will be open Sunday through Thursday between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., Friday between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m., and Saturday between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m.

The Cafe-Otef coffee chain is taking donations through the link: https://headstart.co.il/project/78552.