Liat Moshe of Valley Village, a mother of four, described her rescue response to the events of Oct. 7 with a striking calm.
The native of Otef Aza (Gaza Envelope), one of the main targets of the Hamas massacre was spurred by her mother’s reaction to the attack — “It’s crazy what is going on here” — and her niece’s plea for relief for her fellow teenagers.
Moshe arranged for her parents to be brought here from their kibbutz. Her niece was next. She reported that when intended attack victims were transferred to a safer kibbutz, their nightmarish issues continued. “Maybe I can come to you?”
A moment later, with hesitation, her niece made a bolder suggestion. “Maybe my friend can come?” Then “Uh, maybe another friend can come? Moshe’s niece told her that the teenagers were walking around like zombies because they could not sleep. “Every knock they hear, they are afraid Hamas is going to come inside,” the girl pleaded.
All of the kibbutzim and all of the moshavs were affected, she said. “Hamas, they would go inside and kill people. They make horrible, horrible. They rape and they do horrible stuff. No wonder these kids couldn’t sleep.”
Moshe’s niece continued pleading. “Can I bring another two?” “Okay.” “Another two?” “Okay.’”
What began as temporary solution has spread into late summer with no end in sight.
“But you know what?” Moshe said. “After the first day, the young people came to me and said … ‘This is the first time (since Oct. 7) that I have been able to sleep in the night without worrying.’”
“This made me happy, and so I said ‘Okay.‘” Moshe was crying. “I do this as a mitzvah,” she said. “I make them happy.” Moshe has taken them for treatments to psychiatrists and other therapists in search for long-term relief.
Two Rescuers Meet
Last March, Moshe met Etty Benhamou, a fellow Israeli and committed activist. Benhamou’s cousin Nuritz and her son Ilan are from the Gaza Envelope. She told Moshe that Ilan saved a 13-year-old boy whose entire family had been murdered by Hamas. The boy wanted revenge. He seized a gun to try and kill Hamas terrorists.
“Of course,” Benhamou said, “with a gun you can’t win. He was murdered.”
Moshe and Benhamou repeatedly stressed that scores of other people — some with deep financial means, and all committed to aiding fellow Jews — are involved in this operation. The two women and their circle of activists have treated the Oct. 7 survivors to extended holidays.
The group that arrived on July 24 was hosted at a huge Shabbat dinner, toured the Queen Mary, and visited Universal Studios. They were treated to the glamour of Las Vegas and the natural beauty of the Sequoia Forest.
“The joy that overcame these children at each stop,” Benhamou said, “was overwhelming. I have no way to describe how much so many people have given of themselves to treat these teenagers.”
Everybody wants to come in and help, Benhamou said. “I believe it is where we are. We are united. I have gone to a number of Jewish organizations because we are supposed to be one people. We must help each other. If we don’t, who will help us? We have to show the world we are together.”
“We are united. I have gone to a number of Jewish organizations because we are supposed to be one people. We must help each other. If we don’t, who will help us? We have to show the world we are together.” –Etty Benhamou
Rescuers Explain Motives
Unlike Moshe, Benhamou is from a small town in northern Israel. “Regardless of where we are from,” she said, “with our lives, we all suffer. It doesn’t matter where you come from. We are Jewish Israelis. If you are far or close, we all really feel the same.”
With pride, she said that the latest trip “will be their most memorable experience before they are entering the army. “They are 17, 18 years old. We have to give them the best of everything, welcome them. That is why we are doing this. They have been so traumatized. I do everything from the bottom of my heart because, you know, I am not about politics or anything like that.”
Moshe told The Journal, “everybody is sleeping at my house.” Moshe said that the first group of eight teenagers slept in her home for 2½ months. “Then,” she said, “I brought a second group – 20 people. “That was for 2½ weeks. Then they came back and said they wanted to bring another group. Everybody, you know, wants to come.”
Before the most recent group came, she was contacted by leaders of the kibbutz and the moshav. “We heard about your program,” they messaged. “Can we bring another eight?”
Before the most recent group came, she was contacted by leaders of the kibbutz and the moshav. “We heard about your program,” they messaged. “Can we bring another eight?”
Maybe at the end of the month, she told them. That was too late. “These teenagers need to go to the army, and we would like to do this for them first. So now,” Moshe said, “I have 18 kids.” And more will be arriving after the current group leaves.
“Thank God I have a good husband (Cantor Nathan Moshe) who lets me do everything. Without his support as a father to these children and his financial assistance, none of this would have been possible.”
Since meeting Benhamou in the early spring, Moshe said she’s done an amazing job spreading the word about this program.”
“My focus,” she said, “is to give them a little bit of relief, of healing, before they go into the army.
“The best part is that, God willing, this story is going to continue.”
