Some 350 children and teenagers, all orphans or bereaved siblings, enjoyed an annual pre-Passover camp run by the Jerusalem-based OneFamily organization.
The camp was held at Givat Olga on the Mediterranean seashore and included a wide range of activities and trips across the country for youth from the second to 12th grades.
The participants included those who lost loved ones in terrorist attacks and wars, and especially from families bereaved by Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre and the ensuing Iron Swords War.
“What we’re trying to create, first and foremost, is a sense of belonging,” said Guy Yaakobi, director of the Youth, Young Adults, and Alumni Division at the organization.
“The children who come to the camp don’t feel like ‘the bereaved sibling’ or ‘the bereaved child’—they’re simply part of a group that has experienced similar things.”
Among this year’s campers was Dvir Ayalon, 17, from Beit Aryeh. His older brother, Ofek Revi’a, was murdered on Oct. 7, 2023, at the Nova music festival along with his two best friends.
“The OneFamily Camp gives us a chance to let go a bit,” Dvir said. “It’s a place where you meet people on your level, who’ve been through what you’ve been through—and, above all, it’s a place that gives us a bit of freedom from all the chaos.”
The OneFamily organization has been working for more than 24 years on behalf of terror victims in Israel, providing a broad support framework that includes emotional guidance, financial assistance, workshops, resilience-building and tools for reintegration into society.