Happy Valentine’s Day to all out there celebrating (in Israel we don’t have this holiday, but celebrate romance and engagements on 15 Av in the midsummer). Totally looking forward to relaxing this evening. We’ve had lots of rain this past week – we ARE in the rainy season, and here in the ‘desert’ climes, we see any rainfall as a sign of blessing.

Israel is an amazing powerhouse when it comes to water conservation. Take note California! Many houses and public buildings have rain storage systems that collect the rainwater in barrels and tanks for later use. We reuse ‘gray water’ for agriculture. Trenches and deep reservoirs are built to channel rainwater for storage and late use during the dry season. Israel pretty much perfected the art of desalination, and now, even during the most severe droughts, we get over 70% of our potable water through desalination plants. The sea water from the Mediterranean is extracted, the salt content minimized, the water purified through the tiniest gauge microfiltration systems, UV lit, and voilà! Fresh water. As an aside, Netanyahu offered to build three desal plants in CA. One north of Marin/Napa Counties, north of San Francisco; one just south or Carmel/Monterey in the center; and one just north of San Diego in the South. The offer was flatly rejected by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2019.

A few years ago, students at the Technion invented a small 5ft X 5ft cube that extracts the humidity in the air and makes water. It’s called WaterGen, using only a portable generator can make four liters of clean drinking water for every kilowatt hour of electricity generated. This breakthrough has saved countless lives as the WaterGen has been given to many drought-stricken African countries.

In addition, in 2012, Israelis at Kibbutz Lavi up here in the Galil invented HydroSpin. It is the absolute cleanest of energies, a breakthrough in hydroelectric technologies. Using water flow from rivers and dams, water rushes through a hydraulic turbine connected to a generator creating kinetic energy. The system powers a smart water network which continually monitors the flow of water in pipes. Instantly leaks can be detected as well as water pressure in pipes and water quality. It’s a complex system, but saves water, nonetheless.

Israeli innovations in water also include “Miriam’s Well”, a solar powered off-grid water purification system that is lightweight and portable. There is no need for professional maintenance or chlorine, as this device can rid contaminated water of pathogens and chemicals that cause disease. Shared for free with many under developed African communities, “Miriam’s Well” is saving lives. In Jewish Oral Tradition, Miriam, Moses’ sister, led the Children of Israel to springs in the desert that she would miraculously find.

(I really hadn’t even planned on writing about water, but….) Between the raindrops on Thursday, we decided to take a drive. It’s been well over a year since we visited some of our favorite places in Israel on the Lebanese border. We really needed to get out, and I wanted to see the damage that had been caused by the war. Driving up the Hula Valley, everything was emerald green and the orchards were in full bloom. Farmers were out in force planting new trees.

We first drove up to Kiryat Shmona, which had been hard hit by shrapnel and falling rockets as well as suicide drones carrying incendiary devices. We passed many places, once green forested areas, that had been scorched, the trees all brown. But because Israel is quick to remove sick trees and uses goats, scouts, and forest rangers to clear the underbrush (the ground is also extremely rocky), the fires can’t spread like wildfire (sorry for the pun) and get out of control.

Israel does a great job in quickly fixing anything that was damaged. Many homes we saw were under repair, and much had already been reconstructed. Still, there were very few people who have returned to live there, as the ceasefire is a bit shaky and ends in 46 days. There is still lots of new construction going up. As soon as a missile hits a road, the street is repaved and we saw lots of that.

We drove along the Lebanese border. Some kibbutzim like Rechaniyya, Malkiya and Avivim are now closed and inhabited by the IDF reservists who are guarding the communities and using (with full blessing) their dining facilities and community halls where cots have been set up for them. They also use these border communities as a rest area between patrols. We were allowed to drive through Dovev, a poor community on the Lebanese border that sustained quite a bit of damage. From Dovev, you can see the neighboring Lebanese villages on the next mountain ridge over.

In the Druze city of Hurfeish, everyone stayed. The Druze are not going anywhere and will defend their land and their homes to their last breath. They are loyal Israelis, most men serving in the IDF and security after their service. The Christian communities in BarAm and Fassuta, also on the border, chose to stay and defend their land. No one will force them to leave for any reason. John talked with his friend, Musa, the city treasurer of Fassuta. He said they spent lots of time running to their bomb shelters, sleeping in them and staying in them for sometimes a half a day at a time as drones and missiles flew overhead. He credits Iron Dome, Yeshua and the Virgin Mary for protection and the miracle that there was not one structure hit or person wounded. He prays that the war will be over soon and that within the next five years all the north of Israel will be flourishing and prosperous.

In other good and miraculous news: we wish a hearty Mazal tov!!! to Elia and Ariel, the couple (I covered their story early on) who escaped from their burning house with their daughter, Yael, who was just an infant. With severe burns to their bodies, they spent almost a year in Sheba Hospital’s ICU burn unit. Elia’s burns were so severe (they thought her lungs were permanently damaged) that she was comatose for 51 days. A few days ago, Elia gave birth, against all odds, to a healthy baby boy. They named him Yiftach, which means ‘he will open.’ They believe his birth will open the Gates of Hope for all of us. It truly is a miracle and a testimony to the resilience and strength of the Israeli people.

On the grim side, we are getting more narratives from the mothers of the five IDF soldiers released two weeks ago. They have vowed to be strong and a model of hope and victory to the nation, but the stories they are telling of the time in captivity are horrific. They will need years to recover. All the young girls saw their friends raped, and killed right next to them.

Daniella Gilboa’s parents told the media that “the terrorists separated them into groups- those who were alive and those who were dead. They saw executions and other shocking scenes. They witnessed the deaths of their best friends. During the height of the war, there was no water. Daniella and the others were forced to drink filthy groundwater. This caused her to contract a severe stomach infection. She was between life and death for two weeks. There were days when they were given donkey food, something completely inedible and impossible to chew. It was rotting straw mixed with rotten vegetables.‘

“During captivity,” her father continued, “ Hamas released an official video two months ago falsely claiming Daniella had been murdered by the IDF. They made her lie down wrapped in her sheets. They put powder on her face and highlighted the tattoo on her arm. They created a deliberate, manipulative video that devastated us at home. We were completely helpless.”Daniella learned Arabic without letting her captors know she could understand them. She also managed to manipulate them into letting her watch TV. She saw her mother, Orly, one evening, and that gave her incredible strength. She didn’t know if she would survive her ordeal. To this day, Daniella still has bullets in her leg and will need surgery. Her mom revealed that when they were finally reunited the first words from Daniella were to apologize to her family who feared her dead.

All of the girls were beaten regularly. They all have shrapnel wounds all over their bodies which will require surgery. They were never seen by Red Cross officials. Two were ‘treated’ at Shifa Hospital without anesthesia or antibiotics. They were told they would be converted to Islam and be married to a Gazan or be shot. New evidence has come out that the terrorists beat a Thai hostage so badly that they knocked out all of his front teeth and broke his nose.

Karina Ariel’s mother says her daughter is more than certain it will happen again. None of the girls can fully speak about that terrible day that Gaza Hamas soldiers as well as civilians broke into the base and the surrounding kibbutzim and towns. Karina’s mom says her whole body is in pieces. For the first half a year, she could nearly walk and her hands were always tied together. She constantly feared for her survival and was repeatedly told that Israel will not save you. They do not care about you. They do not even want you back now. They were perpetually psychologically tormented.

Liri Albag’s mother stated that “it’s all very confusing. They way they returned strong and smiling. There seemed to be a resilience in them standing proud on that stage knowing they would be returned.” Hamas forced Liri, Daniella, Agam Karina and Naama to watch videos of IDF soldiers, their friends, being tortured. They were held at gunpoint and not allowed to look away. Hamas is playing with the lives of the hostages and their families. They do not have a shred of empathy. Their only goal is to make the families suffer as much as possible. We must not look away!!!

After nearly 500 days, we are now receiving testimonies recovered from the survivors as to the conditions of some of the others who were taken captive. Some of the families want the stories to be told. Others are keeping very private. From Jonny Daniels:

“Anat, Mayan Angrest’s mother, said earlier this week, ‘We received evidence that he is alive and being held in difficult conditions.” His sister added that “after a long time we received a sign of life. My brother is alive!!!! He is badly wounded but alive. Return him now before there is no one to return him to.” Anat said that they heard how Or Levy, whom Hamas insisted on defining as a soldier, was being abused, and their fear of the abuse and torture that Mayan was undergoing grew. “He was kidnapped from the tank, covered in burns. He underwent severe interrogations there, we saw it in his face in a video that we have decided not to publish yet. We do not yet know the long term consequences of his burns and other injuries.”

Alon Ohel’s family received their first sign of life from him since he was taken captive 7October, 2023. According to information provided to the family, Ohel is being held in Hamas’ underground Gaza tunnels, suffering from a severe eye injury and severe malnutrition. “Our Alon is alive. He is injured and not receiving treatment. He is being held without daylight and access to basic human conditions. We are excited to know he is alive, but we are also devastated and shocked by the horrid physical and mental state in which he and the other hostages are undergoing,” a family spokesperson reported to the Israeli media.

These are just a few of the testimonies I share with you today. There are many others. All are heartbreaking as to the extent of Hamas and also the Gazan Palestinian civilians’ cruelty and barbarism. Some of the reports I’ve been reading are almost unimaginable. Absolute atrocities. The world needs to know. The world needs to be made aware. It will take a lifetime for these captives to fully recover. Many do not even know the fate of their closest loved ones. Hostages whose partners have survived are being told of their murders. Some captives who have lost parents and children and spouses are being told they still live. It is sick and twisted. One captive told of how the Gaza City house she was staying in for a while held items from her mother’s home in Be’eri and that the woman was wearing her mother’s jewelry. This was purposely done to psychologically torture the victim, whose mother and father were both killed that day.

This weekend, we hope to see the return of several/many more/all the remaining hostages tomorrow. Please, G-d, hear our prayers. May we have a peaceful Shabbat with lots of good news.