Families of October 7 victims' pain in pieces: Rebuilding Israeli society

Families who lost loved ones in the October 7 massacre in southern Israel gathered Sunday for the unveiling of a work of art created to honor those lost and placed near the lot of wrecks of cars collected after the 7th in 2023.

Tali Hadad-Atias, whose 23-year-old daughter Dorin Atias was killed while trying to flee the Nova music festival, thanked the volunteers who created the work of art at the unveiling ceremony.

Dorin had been scheduled to work an 8 a.m. bar shift at the festival, but arrived early with friends in order to enjoy the party, her mother explained.

When the rocket fire started early on the morning of October 7, Dorin told her parents she was heading home. Soon after, she let them know she had been held up in a traffic jam. That was the last time they heard from her, and five days later, her death was confirmed.

“She did everything right, but unfortunately, she was not able to get away,” her mother explained, adding that from what they pieced together, she was killed soon after her last message – shot in her car.

'A person of love'

She was killed alongside her friend, Lior Maimon. A second friend, Eden Yerushalmi, escaped the car and hid before being taken captive by Hamas, Hadad-Atias explained. 

Yerushalmi survived in captivity for 11 months before she was executed, along with five other hostages held with her.

“Dorin was only 23 years and 11 months old, but she managed to do a lot in her life – to travel and live in Tel Aviv,” Hadad-Atias said. “She was a people person, a person of love. She always worked three jobs in parallel, and we always asked, ‘Why work so hard?’ She said, ‘I have goals; I have to fit everything in.’”

Dorin had just completed a course to learn to be a pilates instructor, and her certification was brought to her family on October 8, while Dorin was still declared missing, her mother said.

At another party, just before October 7, Dorin had a vision she was entering heaven, her mother shared, adding that a recording of Dorin telling a friend about this vision is something she treasures.

“We feel that because she was an angel in her life and in her death, it could be that she felt something. It’s something we can’t explain,” she said.

NOW HADAD-ATIAS is focused on memorializing Dorin and continuing her way. “That is our mission; we feel we need to speak about her everywhere because she was really such a special person,” she explained.

Dorin was generous and kind, always there for her friends and anyone else who needed her. She used to ask her mother to bring spare change for a homeless man who lived on her street, her mother offered as an example.

Dorin’s family is also carrying on her way by taking care of her friends, her mother said.

Asked how it can be that as a bereaved mother, she herself is caring for Dorin’s grieving friends, Hadad-Atias explained that “supporting the people who loved her so much, it is like seeing Dorin herself.”

The ceremony at which the artwork was unveiled also honored the families of Maj. Ido Yehoshua, and Shlomi Sividia, both killed in the massacre.

The art, a mosaic that reads am israel chai (The People of Israel Lives), was created by volunteers to commemorate the fallen of October 7, 2023. Volunteers from the retirement community of the Mediterranean Towers, the city of Ganei Tikva, the nursing support organization MATAV association, and Zim Urban Mall in Ganei Tikva were involved in the project.

The organization said the artwork is meant to carry a message of hope, unity, and national strength.

The ceremony for the unveiling of the mosaic was led by two residents of the Mediterranean Towers, and the Mediterranean Towers choir sang at the ceremony.

The ceremony was another marker that “no one has forgotten us,” said Hadad-Atias, who thanked the “amazing people” involved in the project.

She said her family has been embraced by the Ganei Tikva community and municipality.

Touching on what is needed to start healing, Hadad-Atias said that she hopes the remaining hostages all come home.

“The events of October 7 shook us all and touched every individual in the country. Out of this great upheaval, each and every one of us must ask ourselves how we can make an impact, extend a hand, and be there for one another,” said Mediterranean Towers CEO Doron Arnon.

This idea is what gave birth to the projects residents of the towers have taken part in in the past year, he added, saying these include sending packages to soldiers, helping farmers in the south, and more.

He said that the towers also provided housing to evacuees.“The mosaic we are inaugurating today was born out of pain and brokenness – just as the people of Israel have experienced time and again throughout history. The inscription am israel chai, displayed here in large letters, is a symbol of resilience and our promise – as a nation – to remain united and connected to one another,” said Ganei Tikva Mayor Lizy Delaricha.

“Each piece of the mosaic represents a small fragment of our pain, and each one connects to form a whole and new picture. Fragment by fragment, piece by piece, we will rebuild Israeli society, making it stronger.”