October 7th.

Where is my mind? Eleven days ago the rug came out from under the feet of millions of people around the world. So many of us forced to bear witness to a…what is the right word? Catastrophe? Horror? Calamity? All of them could apply, but none feel like they carry the correct gravitas. The scope of emotions hit like a runaway train. Pain, confusion, anger, fear and more clogging my brain from functioning properly. The week that followed was one of involuntary mourning, collectively. Everyone I know trying to make sense of the events while putting on a brave face despite violently erratic thoughts and moods, between bouts of persistent shock. Where can we even go from here??

On Sunday, my colleagues and I decided we needed to stop our own spirals. To try and get back on track, if only to maintain our sanity for the sake of those close to us. On Monday we set out for a business meeting on a kibbutz near Elyakim, along the way we stopped by the relatively prosaic city of Or Akiva. Daniel Levin, our CEO took us to see a small but well maintained square dedicated to his father Anatoly. Naturally, the ADHD got the better of me and I looked up the history of Or Akiva and in typical Israeli style, this otherwise unremarkable place and what it stood for planted a seed in my mind that morphed into a lifeline to the only (that I could see) path forward.?

Or Akiva, founded in the early 1950’s, functioned as a landing spot for new immigrants and like most things in this nascent stage of Israel’s development was essentially sand and makeshift dwellings. Lest we forget, that these waves of immigration over the decades were typically the byproduct of displacement, death and being driven out from elsewhere. To add to that, there was virtually almost always war to contend with. Wars that seemed insurmountable and came with losses that can never be reclaimed. Not only has this nation survived all this time, as is evident by our ability to stop by this city, but it became a bastion for what is possible despite seeming impossible. How??

Israel and her friends don’t just survive periods of deep darkness and distress, but she comes out stronger and better. Every. Single. Time. The signs as to how this happens time and time again was there from the first moments of the attack on the morning of October 7th. People that just hours before would have been worried about their own problems had immediately jumped into action, despite the heavy cloud of confusion and hurt. So many people I am privileged to know moved swiftly and with purpose to do something, anything, to help strangers with the same fervor usually reserved for close friends and family. Volunteers, donations, opening their homes, soldiers mobilizing at a moment's notice and leaving their families and I’m certain even more that I’m not privy to.?

With such a high price already paid, it becomes clear that the path forward is to look at what one has in front of them, the responsibilities, and go about them with fire in every fiber of one's being. The responsibility of being a family member, friend, stranger, employee, student, artist. Doesn’t matter. We have seen what it really means when people say tomorrow is not guaranteed, it’s not just about us as an individual, it’s about the collective. One day the dust will settle one way or another and when it does, reservists will come home, mothers reunited with their children and people all over will be able to exhale a weighted breath. To that end, the way forward is making sure when that day comes we are ready to greet this new paradigm with opportunity, energy and security. The sacrifice incurred already has been so steep, it would be a crime unto itself for that not to be the case at the end of it all.?

This is not an end to the mourning. What happened will never be able to be adequately mourned. This was an occurrence that has left its mark deep in the foundation of many and will continue to shape us for years to come. We will likely never be able to change that. However, the thick darkness that entered the world that day can be fought. Our predecessors have shown us the way. Within each of us there is a light we can bring into the world by striving to do what we can, what is right and then do more. With what feels like a heart beating as one, the light of many can be harnessed to come out from this impossible time at new heights we never previously thought possible. Any other outcome would be another tragedy in it’s own right.??

Everyone in their own time, everyone in their own way. It is our turn to carry on the legacy and we will do whatever we can to help others to do the same.

With love and hope,?

Ari.

Daniel Levin Michael Naich