How should we address the events of October 7th with children? This is the question that Hadassa Ben-Ari, an Israeli mother of seven, confronted in the wake of the October 7th attacks. The Israeli consensus was to spare children the horrific details, yet, as I can testify from the experience of my own grandchildren, Israeli kids are hearing things at school and in the media, and asking questions. Not only did Ben-Ari want to find a way to answer these questions; she also wanted to share the many heroic deeds that ordinary, or more accurately extraordinary, Israelis performed, “in order to raise the next generation on these values of friendship, camaraderie, giving, love and the warm Israeli-ness.”
The result was her project, collecting the stories of the October 7th heroes into a single volume. Edited in collaboration with psychologists, Ben-Ari’s anthology offers 71 stories of heroism, tastefully illustrated in muted tones, in keeping with the editors’ non-sensationalist approach. Here readers will find clearly-narrated accounts of brave, selfless people, some of whom gave their lives to save neighbors, friends, even strangers. These accounts avoid graphic details, without denying the reality of the death of some of the book’s heroes.
Although a parent may choose to select stories to share with a child one-on-one, a sensitive teacher might select age-appropriate stories to share with a class. Many of the short accounts are gripping, like “Inbal Saves Kibbutz Nir Am,” which describes how the strategic plan of Inbal Rabin-Lieberman, coordinator of security at Kibbutz Nir Am, saved the lives of hundreds of kibbutz residents. One of the most thrilling accounts tells how farmer Abu Rami, an Arabic-speaking Jewish Israeli, successfully tricked Hamas terrorists into running in the opposite direction from fleeing festival attendees, and saved over 700 lives over four days.
Some stories, like “Rachel’s Cookies,” received considerable publicity, but bear repeating. Children will hear how Israeli grandmother Rachel Edri of Ofakim distracted the five terrorists invading her home, kept them talking, sang with them, and served them her home-baked cookies while successfully alerting the police to their presence. Other accounts are less well-known, like the story of 22-year-old Aner Shapira, the former combat soldier who saved the lives of many people in a shelter near the Nova Festival by lobbing seven hand grenades back at Hamas terrorists before being killed by the eighth grenade.
This book also offers a resounding rebuttal to the Israel-as-a-white-colonialist-outpost-in-the-Middle-East canard, presenting a cross-section of Israeli society. Young readers will meet Salman Habka, Druze commander of the 53rd Armoured Division, who fell in Gaza after devising a successful battle plan for the Gaza Envelope, and Captain H., a Bedouin soldier who lured Hamas terrorists toward himself with his fluent, Gazan-accented Arabic, protecting the soldiers on an IDF base, and escorting 16 young people from the Nova Festival to safety. Young readers will meet Camille, the Filipina caregiver who saved the life of Nitza, her 95-year-old employer, by speaking calmly to the terrorist who broke into their house, convincing him to take all her money. The editors even introduce Naro, the IDF dog whose sense of smell, night vision and special training saved lives at Kfar Aza.
A quibble with the translation: The term “settlements” is used to designate small Israeli communities in the Gaza envelope, in parts of Israel about which there is no dispute. It’s a tainted term and should not be used to designate Israeli communities inside the green line.
Absent from this collection is the promotion of hatred. The enemy are labelled “terrorists,” but their evil and sadism are not dwelt on, in striking contrast to the current wave of anti-Israel children’s books, like Elizabeth Laird’s A Little Piece of Ground and Ahed Tamimi’s They Called Me a Lioness, which demonize Israelis and inculcate hatred. Profits from the sales of the book will be donated to the non-profit “Brothers for Life” (Achim Le’Chaim) to aid injured IDF soldiers.