Rachel Fricker, the synagogue coordinator of the “Ahavat Israel" synagogue in Kibbutz Be'eri, held a farewell ceremony this week for the home where she had lived for decades, moments before it was demolished as part of the kibbutz’s reconstruction efforts following the October 7 attack, during which the house was burned down.
Family members gathered at the site together with Shlomo Raanan, chairman and founder of the Ayelet HaShachar organization, and held a brief ceremony in front of the burned structure. During the ceremony, Fricker recited the traditional “HaGomel" blessing for rescue from danger and read “Mizmor LeTodah" (“A Psalm of Thanksgiving").
Rachel and her family spent many hours inside their safe room during the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel. According to the family, Hamas terrorists were operating inside the house while they hid in the protected room without electricity or water.
After several hours, the family was rescued by Israel Defense Forces troops under fire. The officer who participated in rescuing the family that day also attended the farewell ceremony.
Family members said that after the fire, they discovered that the sukkah they had built in the yard remained intact, along with the synagogue Fricker had established in the kibbutz, which also survived the attack.
Rabbi Raanan, who has accompanied the Fricker family and the synagogue’s activities in Be’eri in recent years, presented Rachel with a stone engraving featuring an image of the kibbutz fields along with excerpts from the liturgical poem “Sha’ali Serufah Ba’esh" (“Ask, O Thou Burned by Fire").
At the conclusion of the ceremony, demolition work on the structure began as part of the ongoing rehabilitation process in Kibbutz Be’eri following the October 7 attack.