Choosing Life: JNF-USA's October 7 mission to the South

On October 7, 2024, I accompanied a delegation of Jewish National Fund-USA leaders and donors from across the United States on a “We Choose Life” solidarity mission. Filling two buses on a tour to the sites of the Hamas attack in southern Israel, their first stop was Kibbutz Yad Mordechai, named after Mordechai Anielewicz, leader of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. They went on to hold a cornerstone-laying ceremony in Sha’ar Hanegev for the Ofir Libstein Regional Athletic Complex in memory of the council head who fell defending his home a year before; dedicated a Torah at the Supernova festival site; planted olive trees in a new neighborhood on Kibbutz Re’im; and participated in a Building Together ceremony commemorating those lost and supporting families of the hostages held in Gaza.

Besides funding these worthy initiatives, Jewish National Fund-USA, led by its charismatic CEO Russell F. Robinson, has sent 20 large missions and thousands of volunteers to Israel since October 7, 2023, building nine new parks and helping evacuees return to freshly painted rebuilt schools and homes, with flowers and trees planted in their gardens. A year ago, Jewish National Fund-USA swung into action to help Israel wherever it could, providing immediate relief to displaced Israelis and breaking records in collecting funds from its donors.

What happened on the We Choose Life mission?

On the We Choose Life mission, Yoel Rosby, Jewish National Fund-USA’s national projects coordinator in Israel, thanked the thousands of volunteers who had come from the US to help rehabilitate the communities in the South, particularly the new school building they were sitting in – “a place that is absolutely dedicated to the next generation. It’s not about the paint and it’s not about the flowers. It’s about changing the narrative.... It’s about giving hope. It’s about always remembering that there is a tomorrow.”

CEO Robinson said: “We have a 4,000-year-old season. We’ve lost some games, but ultimately we’re the winner. Like in sports, you lose a game, you dust yourself off, get up, and try again. Here at Kibbutz Re’im, they’ve made a decision to move back home. It shows their victory over evil. And we’re doing all we can to help them.”

Mission chair Deb Lust Zaluda, the new president of Jewish National Fund-USA from Chicago, said this was a moment in which the Jewish people everywhere must come together and grow together with Israel. “Today and every day, we will tell our story in the names and spirit of those we lost on October 7 and since. We will tell our story in the name of those who fight for our nation today.... We must believe in hope. We must believe in life. We must choose life.”

At the tree-planting ceremony overlooking an empty field on Kibbutz Re’im, father and son Robert and Ronald E. Werner from Denver read a speech in unison. “This area was destroyed by hate on October 7 and is now barren, awaiting its future,” they said. “On the other side, hope beckons. It is where new homes will go up, filled once again with the sounds of laughter and joy....These trees we are planting represent a legacy that will outlive us all and signify our partnership with the people of Kibbutz Re’im and our unwavering commitment to the future of the Otef [the Gaza border communities] and all of Israel, and our people’s unrelenting pursuit of life and living.”

Michal Uziyahu, head of the Eshkol Community Center who is slated to head the regional council, said: “We need to ensure that October 7 won’t be something that defines us. It will always stay part of our life, and we will never be what we were before October 7. But we choose to be better and stronger, and we need to get used to this new us. We must work on our resilience through doing and creating a new future reality. It’s all about rolling up our sleeves, going back to work, and choosing life.”