How does one cope with the terror, pain, and helplessness that have filled Israeli lives since October 7th? Ophir Ben-Ari, VP of of the ‘Tarbut’ movement, finds direction and prayer in the words of Aharon David Gordon, which were written during World War I

Eight days after Nazi Germany invaded Poland, Lea Goldberg sent a letter to the newspaper. At the height of the drama and amidst the reports that began to arrive from the front, it was important for Goldberg to answer the question so many people were asking: why don’t you write about the war? Noa Manheim tells us about that moving letter which has accompanied her since the outbreak of the war.

In the last decade, the music played on Galei Tzahal (IDF Radio) was happy music. Upbeat. The kind that celebrates life. In the past year, the soundtrack of the country has changed. We asked Yasmin Yishbi, the chief music editor at Galei Tzahal, to participate in the #Ruach_Chaim project, where public figures from Israeli society share the prayer they carry in their hearts for the new year. Yasmin shared with us a song that takes her back to her childhood landscape, and serves as a prayer for her, that we find the strength to believe again, that we’ll feel again that it will be good here after all we’ve been through.

Since October 7th, we’re not only filled with pain and bereavement, but also engaged in soul-searching. Rabbi David Rosen learns from our sages to examine ourselves openly and honestly and to understand what our responsibility is, especially in times of destruction and difficulty.

We are not the same people anymore. Although life continues, and on the day after the war most of us will probably return to a familiar routine, the same job and home – something has changed internally. Eli Pollak, CEO of United Hatzalah, has chosen words that express our aspiration for change following this traumatic crisis.

What would the world look like if it were led by women and mothers? This is always a pertinent question, but especially so during wartime. Dr. Osnat Levtzion-Korach, General Director of the Shamir Medical Center (Assaf Harofeh), chose two short passages that clarify the viewpoint and role of women and mothers.

The words that give hope to Professor Elyakim Rubinstein, at the end of this difficult year, are taken from the High Holiday prayers, and move many people every year. This year, those same words have additional meaning, and a different intensity of emotion.

Many songs and texts that were not written as prayers have become prayers for many of us this year. This is also true for the poet Orit Gidali. At the end of the cruel year we’ve been through, Orit prays that we learn to accept also the chaos in life, the abysses and difficulties, that we accept them with resignation and love. And above all, that we be.

I am a Jew despite the Shoah, not because of the Shoah. I am a Jew despite October 7, certainly not because of October 7″. For Dr. Zohar Raviv, the International VP of Educational Strategy at Taglit-Birthright Israel, the enormous tragedy we have experienced is an opportunity to redefine our Jewish identity.

Lea Goldberg died over 50 years ago and yet one of her poems speaks to us as if it were written about the black Saturday of October 2023. The poet Alex Rif, CEO of the ‘One Million Lobby’, chose to share with us a special section from one of Lea Goldberg’s poems which has received new meaning.

Since the outbreak of the war, we have become accustomed to bad news. We are swept up in an ongoing storm that has extended beyond the battlefield and pervaded the social field and the economic arena, all of which together pose a severe challenge and may weaken our spirit. It is impossible to ignore the ominous threats and potential scenarios we face but Dr. Aliza Bloch, mayor of Beit Shemesh, proposes a way to contend with them and forge ahead with optimism.

Sometimes it takes just two words that gain additional meaning and give hope. At the end of this difficult year, Dr. Rani Jaeger prays for us, prays for reality to change, prays that we succeed in replanting ourselves back in this land, especially within its borders, that we manage to return to some quiet and a blessed routine. Watch another video of ‘Ruach Chaim’ (Spirit of Life) ,where we asked public figures and intellectuals to choose a prayer for the new year

One of the numerous new stories of heroism which have emerged since October 7 has become a source of inspiration for Rabbi Tamar Elad-Applebaum. She tells us of a very familiar verse that has now received new, painful but uplifting meaning that instills hope and life.

Our heart has been broken again and again and again. Where can we find consolation while surrounded by so much pain? Rabbi Yirmi Stavisky, principal and teacher at Himmelfarb High School, has lost his son-in-law Yinon Fleischman and five of the school’s alumni during the war. He draws comfort from love and from the words of Viktor Frankl.

Reality changed after October 7, along with our thoughts and their meanings, our fears and hopes. Jacky Levy has found new meaning in a familiar biblical verse that symbolizes the special strength of Israeli society.

Since October 7, we are all in a kind of dense fog. Yair Agmon has chosen the words of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov who proposes that we relate differently to the fog and sets us a (possibly) impossible mission.

“This sentence just jumped out at me from the long text and all the poems”. Revital Vitelzon Jacobs tells of a bracelet she bought herself just before the war, on the inside of which she engraved a short sentence that gives her strength in the most difficult moments.

This is a long, never-ending period of sorrow, worry and despondency – both personal and national. Even now, we still frequently find ourselves devoid of words or hope. When we met with the author Haim Be’er, he showed us words written by Yosef Haim Brenner who, although famously being one of the most depressed authors of the Second Aliya period, is specifically the one to indicate the source of hope, enabling us, even today, to raise our head once more.

What does the First Lady of the State of Israel carry with her at the end of the most difficult year in the country’s history? And what does she pray for on the eve of the new year?
For the new year, we turned to public figures and intellectuals to hear their prayers for us for the coming year.
Ms. Michal Herzog, the First Lady, chose a song that is very personal and at the same time most universal

As a veteran of the Yom Kippur War, Prof. Dina Ben-Yehuda relied on the promise that “this won’t happen again”. Following the endless pain, disappointment, and crisis, she chose a prayer for the state and society, hoping to heal physical and emotional scars.

Creator Ilanit Swissa questions what God has to do with the cries of ‘Allahu Akbar’ during the atrocities committed on October 7th in Kfar Aza. A year after the destruction she experienced, she finds strength and power for growth precisely in the words of a very familiar and old song.