One Day in October

 

One Day in October (Toby Press, 2024) is a book about heroes. "Like the heroes of old, like the heroes of the Bible, the stuff of stories and legends. Confronting the sadness and loss and depths of hell, they give us hope and inspiration and the chance to tell another kind of story." While the subtitle tells the reader there are forty stories about forty heroes, the count is higher, as in many of these accounts, more heroes are mentioned and their heroism revealed. And, the book "is only a rivulet of a sweeping torrent of heroism. There are many stories that we missed, heroes who wouldn't -- or couldn't -- speak; some are still catching their breath and piecing their own stories together. We could produce another dozen volumes of incredible stories of courage from that cursed day."

Some reviewer notes before we dive into the incredible stories: Sara Daniel's translation from the Hebrew is excellent. The authors did a superlative job capturing each hero's story with each one's authentic voice shining through, whether Camilla Jesalva, the Filipino caretaker that saved her elderly patient, or eight-year-old Emily Hand, who was taken hostage and released after 50 days. The map is key to putting the stories in the context, and the chart of the murdered and hostages succinctly captures the magnitude of the horror that day.

Some accounts are first person. Many are related by parents, siblings and spouses of those who made the ultimate sacrifice on October 7th. 

Shlomo Ron's is "The Exact Opposite of All Those Hero Stories." When the 85-year-old realized what was happening at Kibbutz Nahal Oz, he sent his wife, two daughters and grandson to the safe room, while he sat in an armchair in the living room. Thinking he was an old man sitting by himself, the terrorists shot him on sight and left the house. He saved his family with this quiet act of heroism.

Guy Simhi, 20, saved at least 30 lives on October 7th. He directed drivers from the Nova Festival to the back roads to avoid the terrorists. At Kibbutz Re'im, he left the safe room and went out to gather more people who had run away from the festival. He confronted the terrorists with a friend, and subsequently died from injuries sustained when the terrorists threw grenades into the house.

Yonatan Elazari, 19, was in yeshiva in Ofakim on Simchat Torah. When he heard gunfire, he left and joined other soldiers in defending the residents. He climbed to a rooftop to take a position. After a few minutes of fighting, he was shot and killed.

Tali Hadad displayed "The Power of Motherhood." Her son Itamar went out in Ofakim to fight the terrorists, and he has injured. Tali realizes that the ambulances can't get through, she took her car and evacuated the wounded, including her son, to an urgent care center that was set up at the entrance to the city. 

She explains her heroism: "Every woman has power; in every home, the mother is the one who leads the way, who sets the tone, who wields the strength within the home. It's all written; I'm not making anything up. The homemaker is the one who makes the home what it is, and we need to appreciate how strong that is, how powerful it is, even on the battlefield. We are there too; I was there too. I'm just a simple woman. Who am I? Just a retired kindergarten teacher. I've been a homemaker for three years now; I'm not working. I'm not a captain in the army, I'm not a commander, I'm no one really. So if I did what I did, then surely every woman should understand the kind of strength she has inside her."

Nasreen Yousef, a 46-year-old mother of four, lives in Yated, a community in the triangle between Egypt and Gaza. She save that community on October 7th when she used her Arabic to convince the invading terrorists she was helping them. She collected critical information about the invasion, which she passed on to the IDF, which led to the capture of 15 terrorists.

I met Yossi Landau when I visited Kibbutz Nir Oz in January. He is the head of operations in the Lachish region in the south of Israel for ZAKA, a volunteer organization that has two missions: to save lives, and to treat the dead with dignity. Yossi's work started on October 7th, and, unfortunately, still continues. He recounts the work he and his volunteer teams did at the Nova Festival site. Working until 4:30 in the morning of October 8th, he and 180 volunteers "managed to honor the memory of 237 holy people."

There are 34 more stories -- all amazing. This is not a light read, but one that is very worthwhile.