Dozens of people sat and listened as survivors and families of hostages kidnapped in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel shared their emotional stories inside the Skokie Valley Synagogue.
“I give you a lot of credit because I don’t know how you find the strength and courage [to] tell the stories over and over again,” said one speaker.
The survivors and loved ones of hostages visited on Sunday as part of a delegation traveling to different cities to raise awareness about the efforts to free hostages and to rebuild their community.
“We’ve already been 12 days in the U.S., and we received nothing but love and support from Jewish and non-Jewish alike,” said Yarden Tzemach, one of the speakers.
Tzemach said on Oct. 7, he was able to help direct security forces to specific homes to carry out rescues. His older brother, who was part of an emergency squad, lost his life trying to protect others.
“I was a little nervous before coming here, seeing what happened on campuses and the protests,” he said. “We experienced nothing like it—we only experienced love and support.”
The event was organized by the Jewish National Fund USA, a non-profit helping to raise $10 million to rebuild the Kibbutz Be’eri community, where the October attack occurred.
“It’s important for Americans to see real Israelis and the trauma they’re going through over this horrific event, this massacre that happened on October 7th and so they can understand the rebuilding process about the emotional and the physical component of that rebuilding process,” said Scott Schreiber, a member of the Jewish National Fund USA’s board of directors.
Since the attacks, the organization has raised more than $60 million to help with relief efforts, even sending volunteers to help restore devastated towns and villages.
“Once again, we see the Jewish community banding together in support of our brothers and sisters in Israel so that we can rebuild and showing our support for them and let them know that they’re never alone in this world,” he said.
The organization said over the past eight months, it has sent more than 3,500 American volunteers to Israel to help with rebuilding efforts. As for the delegation, their next stop after Chicago was New York.