“After we received the word of Liel’s murder – I felt as if the story was ‘all over’, As if we have nothing to look forward to or anticipate any further information. I have written a few words about the family members, which they really were to me while working as a guide there. 

 

Me? Be’eri? Anyone who knows me knows about my fear of military escalations and sirens. I live in Ofakim, am used to it, and still every year when we would go visit ‘Darom Adom ’ in the Otef, I felt my heart trembling, fearing what might happen, while simultaneously marveling at all that red beauty. And suddenly, driving on my own to Be’eri every two weeks. Ironically, it was one of the homes where I felt the safest. 

 

For the first time when I met Ayalos (Ayala, Liel’s aunt), I got to know a remarkable woman, small in stature, but the size of her heart was apparent to everyone. Of red hair and smiling eyes. She immediately opened her home, and since that day, on the table would always be waiting for me sliced fruit, dates, nuts and perhaps a few delicacies that Liel tried to create in the kitchen. Ayala, Liel and Yanai’s aunt, was active in important stages of my life, from changing apartments to the birth of my f irst born daughter. She was there to consult, offer a kind word and even fill my hands with a small gift. 

 

Then I met Liel and Yanai. Twins who are nothing alike. Each one of them a world on its own, and from that day they made sure I knew it well. They changed my perspective and as they demanded that I acknowledge them as two separate, independent beings, I would never place them both in the same equation. 

 

Liel – so smart and crafty. A beloved child who knows how to simultaneously handle and captivate everyone standing in front of her. Who is not embarrassed to ask questions, big questions, penetrating, accurate. Who wants to get to know the person standing before her, wants to complete a full picture before she allows herself to trust me. I will not forget the first hug she gave me and the surprised look on Ayalos’s face. That day I walked out of there thinking I have won a prize I didn’t know I was searching for. Liel, who had trouble adapting to the different structures, but stood out within them. Just give her a role and she will carry it out to its fullest. She would love to guide and be a big sister to the Kibbutz kids and how they loved her and fell in line with her. She who always introduced me as I was and was not the least bit ashamed of the reality of her life. She was proud and channeled it well. I always got to know her friends who knew how to contain and read her. How talented she was. From one hobby to another. Singing, writing, creating. I got to receive a present from her, a beautiful coffee mug that has a special place in my cupboard and heart. 

 

Nai-Nai- Yanai. A sensitive, smart child, who knows how to read the situation well. Is very connected to his family. He wanted to get better at school so badly, and learn English, and from one month to the next I saw how he was growing, getting older and improving. And in each of these time periods he would be filled with pride and asked to be acknowledged for his hard work. He always asked, even without words, to receive the love and attention he deserved. He would demand it quietly and receive so much of it. He loved sports and tending for his flowing hair. Each time with a different hairdo. A real Kibbutz member, who would stroll in Ayalos’s mobility scooter and pick up all of his friends along for the ride. 

 

Yanai and Liel started their first year in junior high – such a meaningful stage in the lives of every teenager and of a Kibbutz member. This was a Bar-Mitzvah year in which so many events take place in the Kibbutz and in general. A year in which they would have reached another developmental phase of their lives. A stage which they feared, were excited for and anticipated. 

 

They both admired their Grandpa Evia, who was infallible 12  \to them – a real hero. The called and consulted with him about anything, from medicine, about which he is knowledgeable, to deliberating whether to order a Shawarma dish from Netivot. I didn’t get to fully know Grandpa Evia and our connection was not on a daily basis, but his presence was apparent in each step during my guidance. A loving, caring grandfather, who dedicated his all to raising his grandchildren. And most of all, a loving and devoted father to his daughter Shira, who could not raise her kids by herself. How much they have made her present in their lives. Not a day went by when they didn’t visit and see her. “That’s my mom”. They would come visit her with friends as well. Thank you for the privilege to guide you, to know you, to be angry, cheerful and excited with you. To be present in happy and also less happy situations. Thank you for getting to see you grow up, caring, dreaming, realizing.