October 7 survivor thanks Mosaic Jewish Community for giving his kibbutz ‘hope and optimism’

“Family homes had been burnt to the ground. Many other buildings were badly damaged and had to be demolished. If as a community we would decide to go back, how would all of this be funded and who would do all the work? …We were already emotionally drained. Just trying to process what happened and keep daily life going as evacuees was taking all of our energy.”

Kibbutz Re'im after October 7 (Photo: courtesy)[Missing Credit]

Soon after October 7, the Mosaic, which Gavin’s father, Michael, attends, decided to partner the kibbutz and began to raise funds for repairs.

Paying tribute to Mosaic, Gavin told the congregation: “Various organisations, including this amazing Mosaic community, gave donations to fund big renovation projects and smaller ones and help in any way that they could.

“All of this had an amazing effect on the community because we knew that we weren't alone. We felt the support of people from near and far that were helping us pump life back into the kibbutz. Members and residents could finally begin to see a future in the kibbutz and slowly, over the past two years, one family at a time, people started coming home.”

Since the attacks, 95 per cent of residents – who spent months living in a hotel in Tel Aviv – have returned to the kibbutz and new people have joined.

Gavin said that as well as destroyed houses being rebuilt, there was a new children’s playground and new gym equipment, and there were plans for a new medical centre to replace the one which was severely damaged on October 7.

He said: “However, you have given us something more important and valuable than a financial contribution. You have given us hope and optimism for the future and the belief not that Kibbutz life will eventually return to how it was before October 7th, but that it will become something bigger and better than it ever has been before.”

Gavin told the JC that before the terrorist attacks, he had worked on a dairy farm, part-owned by Kibbutz Re’im but based on Kibbutz Holit, further along the Gaza border.

“After 7.10, I wanted to be closer to home, the family and children and began working in the poultry farm - raising 225,000 chickens for meat at a time - in our own kibbutz.

“I went back to the true kibbutz life I first new - living and working on the same kibbutz. I'm very happy there but as you can imagine, the past few years have not been easy.”

Kibbutz Re'im (Photo: courtesy)[Missing Credit]

Mosaic is an unusual community, in that it houses Liberal, Masorti and Reform congregations all under one roof. However, it frequently works together on certain projects, including fundraising for Re’im.

Gavin’s father, Michael, who belongs to the Masorti congregation, told the JC: “It’s so nice that the shul has taken on fundraising for the kibbutz as it needs all the assistance it can get.”

Before October 7, Michael used to visit his son’s family on the kibbutz twice a year, but said: “Since then, I have had more flights cancelled than I have been on.”

Michel Reik, the chair of Mosaic’s Israel section, who spearheaded the fundraising, said: “We felt the best way to help Israel after October 7 was to identify a specific project which was meaningful to us. We chose kibbutz Re’im because of Michael Dashwood’s connection.”

Shelter outside Kibbutz Re'im, where 25 young people were murdered on October 7 by Hamas terrorists (Photo: courtesy)[Missing Credit]

In November, he and his wife, Gill, went to visit the kibbutz and the nearby site of the Nova festival massacre, where 380 people were murdered by Hamas terrorists on October 7.

“Over two years later, you can still see a bit of the devastation from that day, but we have made it our business to help rebuild the kibbutz,” said Michael.

Ameet Cafe on Kibbutz Re'im (Photo: courtesy)[Missing Credit]

He said that the most powerful moments were visiting a shelter just outside the kibbutz, where all 25 of the people who went there to hide were slaughtered by Hamas, and seeing a mobile food stand – Ameet Café – which was opened in memory of Re’im resident Amit Gabay, who was murdered by terrorists just before his 18th birthday. “It made me very emotional,” said Michael.