Each of the seven hakafot on Simchat Torah were dedicated to a topic connected to the October 7th massacre: the hostages, the fallen, Be’eri and the other attacked communities, the heroes of Be’eri, the security and medic forces, the evacuees from the south and the north, and the last round to the redemption of Israel.
Rachel Fricker, the manager of Kibbutz Be’eri's synagogue, said: "We have been traumatized for life, but we have no choice but to move forward. The main reason for celebrating this holiday is to pray with all our might that the hostages return home."
The event was attended by members of Kibbutz Be’eri and Kibbutz Alumim, according to the tradition that they have jointly set since 2006. Members of the murdered and kidnapped families, including Nira, Oren and Yuval Sharabi, the wife and daughters of Yossi Sharabi z”l, whose body is being held in captivity, and Elad Keidar, son of Sami z”l and Ofra z”l Keidar who were murdered on October 7th. Ofra's body is still held in captivity.