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By Matt Levy, Boger of HDOZ, Madrich of Shichvat Keshet-Nesher, Madrich in NOAL Ken Zichron Yaakov

I don’t need to recount the details of my day on October 7th, luckily I have been very safe in the city I live, but friends, movement partners and family members were less fortunate. You have heard the stories already.

Once I was aware of my safety in Hadera my immediate question became, what can I do to help? So off I drove to Zichron Yaakov where I helped open a donation drive for the 300,000 reserve soldiers who had been called up to defend their country and also the 300,000 people who had been displaced from the South and North of the country. We spent all day unloading, sorting and packing food, clothes, children's games, hygiene products and many more essential items to send across the country. Families within the city kept coming with essentials to the point where some items across the city couldn't be found in supermarkets and stores, they were sold out. Real peoples-based solidarity in action. What was more special was that we organized this through the movement in Zichron. 30 of our senior members came to volunteer and help, they even organized money transfers to one of their bank accounts to then go buy more essential products that we realized we were low on. We did this for a few days.

And then everything changed when my co-rakezet was asked to travel to the dead sea. She was asked to go to the hotels there to run programming for the displaced children from the kibbutzim, Sderot and other areas affected by the massacre in the south. For the kids who some had witnessed the massacre first hand. And then she asked…Hey Matt, can you be the coordinator without me for the next little while whilst I'm away?

A Poem by Lonny Moses, Boger of HDNA, Member of Kibbutz Kvutzot Keshet in Petach Tikva

You think you walk with God
The Lord of hosts who will destroy your enemies
So that you can march triumphantly into the Garden of Eden

By a group of HDUK Bogrimot

On the morning of the 7th we received news alerts informing us of the events in Israel from the comforts of our own homes in England. However, holding movement values and a close connection to Israel through this, we were anxious and worried about everyone affected by the events in Israel and Gaza and what this means for the future of the country. Although we are not physically affected by the conflict, an aftermath of rising antisemitism was becoming an increasing aspect of Diaspora lives. For most of us who are not surrounded by Jewish people, Habonim was a space that we knew would provide outlets for expression and exploration of the way we were feeling.

On October 7, HDOZ woke up to a new reality. The last few weeks have been extremely difficult for our community but in and amongst the darkness HDOZ has come together to support Israel and each other. A few bogrimot from our Kenim around Australia have shared the ways that their Ken has responded to the war. Our hearts and thoughts are especially with our Olim and our Movement Chaverim in Israel who continue to be a dugma for us in Australia, proving that Habo’s vision for Israel is still alive.

My name is Daniel Crook. I am an Oleh from Habonim Dror Australia, a member of HeChalutz, and a member of an educators Kibbutz of Dror Yisrael in Tel Aviv.

On Saturday the 14th of October I left Tel Aviv for Mitzpeh Ramon, located in the middle of Israel's Negev desert, in order to work with the evacuated residents of Kibbutz Erez, a Kibbutz on the northern border of Gaza. I heard from other members of Hechalutz in Mitzpeh Ramon that the members of Kibbutz Erez were attempting to create a kindergarten for their children. As a kindergarten teacher myself, I understood that I am uniquely placed to be able to help them in this dream, considering the unfathomable circumstances that they face.

I arrived in Mitzpeh Ramon, walked into a dirty hall and began working on my task: to turn a junk-filled room into a kindergarten. A space for joy, play and growth. The crazy juxtaposition of what a kindergarten should be next to the reality of what we are facing in this war was suddenly overwhelming. Over the next few hours countless Kibbutz members walked into the room and immediately asked, “what can I do?” They filled me with a sense of solidarity, and in a shared effort and with a lot of donated games and toys, we turned a junk-filled hall into a makeshift kindergarten.