In the wake of October 7, we must tell the stories of what happened

The genocidal rampage that took place on October 7, 2023, is forever seared into our brains and souls. I don’t know how many generations will live with this trauma and work through it.

The film “We Will Dance Again” (a detailed account of the events that took place at the Supernova music festival, using footage from Hamas’ GoPro cameras and eyewitness accounts from a dozen survivors, shows terrorists preparing to break through the Gaza border fence into Israel.

Their screams of joy and manic energy were blood-curdling. Is this what Nazis sounded like? It was hard to fathom that human beings could wake up and decide what they would do today.

For me, this scene was a microcosm of every October 7 clip that emerged as journalists and others began to document the gruesome massacre that took place on Israeli soil on that fateful day.

This would become a constant drum in our brains that once triggered is difficult to control.

Storytelling

On the other hand, telling stories about October 7 is one of the most important activities that journalists and other documentarians living in this period can undertake.

We are grateful to the visionary leaders of the National Library of Israel who have launched a large-scale data collection project to this end: Bearing Witness, headed by Collections Manager Raquel Ukeles, preserves and makes available a wide range of documentary materials related to October 7 and its repercussions both in Israel and abroad.

Fellow storytellers and producers – Sheryl Sandberg (director of “Screams Before the Silence”), Yariv Mozer (director of “We Will Dance Again”) and Yair Agmon (editor, One Day in October, op40 Stories of Courage (published on October 7) – has also stepped forward and embraced recording and sharing memories as a sacred duty.

Get up and do it

What else is pushing us forward from October 7?

Israeli society revitalized itself within hours of the Hamas invasion and took on the endless emerging needs of affected communities.

Are civilian-run “war rooms” set up in most cities by various non-governmental organizations; immediate involvement of Israeli circles in the global campaign to free the hostages; the incredibly fast results of thousands of WhatsApp groups informing Israelis which Shiva needed extra guests, which funerals needed to be attended, and which evacuees needed help; or the hundreds of homespun initiatives of cooking, washing, supporting, caring for children and arranging carpools for all those in need – all this “moving forward” was much more urgent because many ministries were paralyzed for weeks after the attacks.

Any task that needed to be done in a small country struggling to hold the front while our troops fought a war on multiple fronts required getting up and doing it, no questions asked.

What do we have to do?

Some say this answer brings to mind Winston Churchill’s famous line about the British people’s “finest hour” during World War II.

For me, it evokes a letter my late brother-in-law Alex Singer wrote to his family in 1985 about what it was like to donate blood in Israel.

Dear Mom, Dad, Saul, Benjy and Daniel,

I am now lying on a cot in the PX base. I just donated blood. Donating blood in Israel is a very Israeli experience… I guess I should say it is an Israeli war experience because it is very effective and quick. You write your name on a piece of paper, mark a few “X” boxes, have your blood pressure checked… you lie down and, without pricking your fingers or ears, you get poked. Then you get up… and leave.

Meanwhile, all the blood donors are arguing, eating, throwing bags of blood to anyone who will use up their supply and generally not making a big deal about the blood. Elsewhere, donating blood is almost a big deal, and blood donors are seen as mini-heroes… Here the experience is surprisingly routine. The donor doesn’t feel like he’s doing anything special – he takes it for granted that he will be there… In Israel, people come back because the blood truck has arrived and it’s time to donate.

So where do we stand as we face October 7, 2024? The level of unresolved trauma is profound. Our borders are still uncertain. We are fighting around the clock to free our sick and dying hostages. The prospects of a longer, even more exhausting war on Israel’s northern border loom large.

With no obvious solution in sight to the enlistment of Haredi men of military age, internal tensions are building and may reach a boiling point.

At the same time, I believe that the bonds between Israelis are still enormous. This bloodbath shows up again and again and we all do what we have to do.

Wendy Singer served as executive director of Start-Up Nation Central (SNC) for nine years. Today, he is a strategic advisor in selecting Israeli startups and other organizations. She was previously familiar with the world of Israel politics and advocacy, including ten years on Capitol Hill and 16 years as head of AIPAC’s Israel office. She lives in Jerusalem with her husband and three daughters.