Miriam Peretz, who lost two sons during their service in the IDF, participated this weekend in a special event in Jerusalem for families who lost their loved ones during the war and told Israel National News - Arutz Sheva that she drew a lot of strength from the event. "Bereavement has plagued the entire country, but today I met families whom I visited after they lost close family members and told them, ‘You stood up. You showed strength,'" says Peretz. She adds that holding the event close to Shabbat was particularly significant. "The Shabbat day is more complex, because the Shabbat table without one’s son or daughter, or a father who says the blessings and cries, brothers who sit with an empty chair next to them, is difficult - but all of this is possible. We are here to give each other strength and also to make a statement - the enemy wanted annihilate us, stop us from living, close down our Sabbaths and Jewish holidays. Even so, we are here together – getting stronger – returning home with tears, and combining longing, yearning and striving to live." She emphasized that, “The togetherness here is from all sectors of the Israeli society – from kibbutzim, moshavim, religious, secular, left, right. The war has not separated us. But life has also not separated us, and here we see life. We see people adhering to life, wanting to live, wanting strength. We leave here and start our Shabbat, with strong feelings of yearning, but with a bit more strength.”
