Those we have lost

Hava Ben Ami, 78: Walked to pre-state Israel by foot from Syria

Killed during the Hamas invasion of Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7

Hava Ben Ami (Courtesy)
Hava Ben Ami (Courtesy)

Hava Ben Ami, 78, was killed during the Hamas invasion of Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7.

Her daughter, Noam Ben Ami Revach, told a British news outlet that she had told her mother to hide in a closet as Hamas terrorists were rampaging through her neighborhood. Around noon, Noam said, Hava texted her: “‘They were just in the house. I’m so terrified.’ And I told her ‘Don’t worry, we’ll be there soon to get you out. I promise we’ll be there soon. Somebody will get you out.'”

An hour or so later, they lost contact with her entirely. The family later discovered that the terrorists kidnapped Hava and forced her to the home of Pessi Cohen, where dozens of gunmen were holed up inside with 14 hostages.

The terrorists had already killed some of those inside when IDF forces showed up later in the day and engaged in a standoff with the Hamas gunmen. The terrorists used the hostages as a bargaining tool to demand safe passage to Gaza, intending to bring the hostages with them and threatening to kill them if the IDF opened fire. According to the two survivors from inside the house, the terrorists positioned the hostages between themselves and advancing IDF troops as a gun battle blazed.

Only one Israeli hostage later emerged alive from the home, in an incident that has been the subject of a highly charged IDF investigation.

Hava was buried on October 18 in Kibbutz Mishmar Hanegev. She is survived by her three children, Amit, Reut and Noam, eight grandchildren — Mai, Gal, Lia, Noa, Hagay, Yael, Romi and Idan — and her sisters, Mazal, Doris and Ronit.

According to a kibbutz eulogy, Hava was born in Aleppo, Syria, with the name Evelyn Yehezkel. In early 1948, amid violence and unrest in the period before the establishment of the State of Israel, she fled with her family on foot toward Israel.

The family settled first in Holon, and Hava was later sent as a child to Be’eri to get an education after her mother remarried. There she was unofficially adopted by a family, and remained there for close to 70 years. During that time, Hava worked in many different jobs in the kibbutz, the eulogy read, including the chicken coop, education, the clothing store — before at age 45 she decided to seek out a new path and became a cosmetician.

She had a musical ear, singing at ceremonies and celebrations, and knew how to play the accordion, the piano and the flute. In her later years, she took up a number of sports, including pilates, swimming, bike riding and yoga.

Her grandson, Gal Yelland, introduced a musical interlude at her funeral, noting that with loss, “we live not just with the memories they leave behind, but we memorialize their spirit in every basic thing they taught us — language, food they made for us — or of course, music.”

On Hava’s 78th birthday six months earlier, he said, “I came to visit you in Be’eri and we listened together a song you learned to play on the flute once,” a musical tribute that “symbolizes who Grandma Hava was and always will be: full of life and joy.”

Her daughter, Noam, wrote to “my beloved mother, my best friend, my inspiration, my strength, my support.”

Hava was “the most loving grandmother, most embracing. Every visit the kids were overjoyed — they wanted to wake you up in the morning, you would welcome them with a huge smile and a loving heart. You would show up for us anytime we asked, and even when we didn’t.”

She would “spread smiles, optimism, hugs and love in every place. So sensitive, so gentle, with such a big heart. At the age of 78 you had the energy of a 20-year-old.”

Hava’s daughter, Reut, shared online what she read at a Memorial Day ceremony for her mother.

“My mother, a woman full of vitality with a big heart and a pure soul, loved classical music and music in general, she played the flute with great talent,” noted Reut, recalling her musical participation in many events.

“Mom had a warm and inviting home, she loved to take care of her plants and work in her beautiful garden, she loved to knit and create and in later years she knitted dolls for toddlers,” added Reut. “Above all, my mother loved her family, she was a devoted mother and grandmother to her children and grandchildren. She developed a unique relationship with every one of her grandchildren. She loved to spoil everyone and give from herself as much as she could with love and endless generosity.”

Read more Those We Have Lost stories here.

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