At 7 a.m. on Oct. 7, 2023, Orit Adany received a message from her son, Israel Defense Forces Capt. Elay Adany, a 21-year-old Maglan commando platoon commander, asking how she and her husband, Rami, were doing and whether everything was okay.
It would be the last message she received from him.
At 7:25 a.m., Orit could no longer reach Itay, who had set out with his soldiers toward Sderot.
“He woke up at 6:29 a.m. when the attack began and, not knowing anything, started making fateful decisions. He decided where to go, when and how,” Orit told JNS.
En route, Elay saw 13 elderly people lying dead near a bus stop. In Sderot, he went from house to house, reassuring families, searching for Hamas terrorists and ensuring that residents reached their safe rooms.
Around 8:30 or 9 a.m., Elay and his unit drove toward Kibbutz Kfar Aza, avoiding Route 232, which was filled with Hamas terrorists, and instead cutting through the fields, where they stopped to engage terrorists armed with RPGs, grenades and Kalashnikov rifles.
“Elay didn’t do it for us to sit here and refer to him as a hero. He did it because he believed in it. He believed he needed to protect our people,” Orit told JNS.
“He went to the officer course and became a commander and made sacrifices in his personal life. He did it for others. He would say, ‘My turn has come. I am doing it for those who aren’t here anymore, those we cry [for],’ those who fought before him,” she continued.
At the entrance to Kfar Aza, Elay and his unit neutralized terrorists before proceeding on foot. He entered the community with seven soldiers, as terrorists rigged cars with explosives and detonated them remotely as troops approached to rescue residents.
Elay entered one house and found it empty but booby-trapped, evidence that the terrorists had already been there. The dining table was still set for the Simchat Torah holiday.
Elay eventually entered Sigal Caspi’s house, where he saw an overturned Magen David Adom scooter, indicating that terrorists had been there. He broke a window to get inside, injuring his hand.
The Caspi family, who were sheltering in the safe room, initially did not believe that Elay and his unit were IDF soldiers but eventually agreed to open the door. Elay asked Sigal’s son Omer, a Magen David Adom paramedic, to remain in the house and treat any wounded people they brought in.
While searching homes for wounded residents, Elay was shot by a terrorist hiding in a child’s room.
Elay was evacuated to the Caspi family’s home, but the first-aid kit on the Magen David Adom scooter had been stolen by terrorists, leaving those treating him with little they could do.
Elay’s soldiers evacuated him to a car, but as they drove under fire, Staff Sgt. Amichay Vanino, who was treating his wounds, was shot.
“Elay and Amichay left the world together in the same moment,” Orit told JNS.
Every year around Oct. 7, Elay’s father, Rami, drives the same route that became his son’s final journey, from the Julis IDF base to Kfar Aza.
“For four days, we didn’t know where our child was. We looked for him, and the army did not want to tell us until they were certain. When we ended the shiva, I went to the Shefayim Hotel to ask about my son,” Orit said.
“The Caspis saw the picture of Elay on Rami’s shirt, recognized him, held us and cried. They moved back home three years later on Simchat Torah, thanks to what Elay did,” she added.
Orit said it was clear that Elay would do something great in his life. He became a symbol, as did his unit.
“Oct. 7 is a very hard day. It evokes a lot of longing for what was, and it’s a sad day because our lives changed completely. There is a very large void. It’s very difficult to accept that we can’t change what is now,” she said.
‘These are the families whose children sacrificed themselves’
Sigal Caspi told JNS that the bond between the families of those who fought to defend Kfar Aza and the residents who fought to survive is very deep.
Among those Elay and his soldiers managed to rescue before he was killed were Erez and Yifat Yatzkan and their daughter.
“At 2 p.m., we heard someone again shattering glass and we heard screams. We opened the safe room; it was the team of Elay bringing Erez,” Caspi said.
“My son Omer started treating Erez while I stayed with my young son in the safe room with Yifat and their daughter. Then, 10 minutes later, we heard the screams of IDF soldiers. They brought Elay in, very seriously wounded. If I remember correctly, he had two holes in his chest,” she told JNS.
Remembering the fallen
Two ceremonies were scheduled for Wednesday in Kfar Aza.
At 6:29 a.m., at the armory where the community’s first-response team kept its weapons—and whose walls now bear the names, images and stories of those who fell there—the surviving members of Elay’s team, together with the widows of those who were killed, are set to hold a ceremony honoring those who fought and died defending their community.
At 10 a.m., at Kfar Aza’s cemetery, the names of the fallen were to be read aloud and memorial songs were to be sung in their honor. For the first time, memorial stones were placed for Kfar Aza residents who were murdered on Oct. 7 but are not buried in the kibbutz.
“This will connect us for all of our lives. We are the ones who saw Elay in his last moments. Before he was shot, he saved people in Kfar Aza. These are the families whose children sacrificed themselves to save us,” Caspi told JNS.
“We don’t forget them and that we thank them. The kibbutz lost 64 people. An entire family was murdered. It’s not easy, but with all the pain, we cherish those soldiers,” she added.
