Stitching hope: Quilts provide solace for Be'eri massacre survivors
Israelis rallied in record numbers to volunteer in support of survivors of the Hamas atrocities and the soldiers battling terror.
By YAKIR FELDMAN PROJECT COORDINATOR Gail Solomon displays a vividly detailed bucolic-themed quilt.(photo credit: KAREN FELDMAN)
Reeling from the collective shock and trauma of Oct. 7, 2023, Israelis rallied in record numbers to volunteer in support of survivors of the Hamas atrocities and the soldiers battling terror.
Incredibly (and probably unmatched anywhere in the world), nearly half of all Israelis volunteered at the outset of the Israel-Hamas war. For example, volunteers flooded Sar-El to sort uniforms and pack rations, crowded into Aroma coffee shops to prepare food (with Beit Shemesh alone shipping as many as 12,000 sandwiches daily), and flocked to farms to plant and harvest crops left workerless by the crisis.
In this quintessential period of social cohesion, the caring and love for our brethren proved boundless. How are quilts part of the story? The answer, like a quilt, comes in interconnected parts:
Sew awesome
Quilts are more than simple blankets. Created by talented and meticulous fabric artists, they are beautiful palettes of eye-pleasing loveliness that can take experienced quilting artists with proper equipment dozens of hours to complete. Many quilts would cost thousands of shekels to purchase.
CELEBRATED ARTIST Cindy Richard and collaborator Solomon share a colorful moment with a Be’eri resident. (credit: KAREN FELDMAN)Crazy quilt idea?
A renowned award-winning Israeli quilt artist and author on the subject, Cindy Richard is a celebrity in the quilting world, with thousands of social media followers. Richard formulated a plan to harness the talents and goodwill of scores of leading quilting artists in Israel and around the world to provide comfort to victims of Hamas terror. COMMUNITY CENTER tables support the weight of hundreds of quilts. (credit: KAREN FELDMAN)
Focus on Kibbutz Be’eri
There are probably not enough quilters in the world to create quilts for each of the thousands of victims of Hamas terror, so Richard focused on the survivors of Kibbutz Be’eri, one of the hardest-hit communities devastated by Hamas.
In the Oct. 7 massacre, heavily armed extermination squads murdered 101 Be’eri civilians and 31 security personnel, and kidnapped 32 hostages. Extensive damage and destruction of kibbutz homes and infrastructure, plus the ongoing danger from rockets and terrorists, necessitated the evacuation of some 900 survivors of the onslaught.
But where could they go?
Be’eri in Hatzerim
In one of the countless only-in-Israel stories stemming from the Oct. 7 tragedy, Kibbutz Hatzerim, located about 25 km. from Kibbutz Be’eri, allocated an extensive area to speed-construct a kibbutz-within-a-kibbutz. Some 300 housing units were built at warp speed for the evacuees of Be’eri, complete with a community center for the relocated kibbutzniks: a home away from home on a large scale.
Quilts for massacre survivors
Richard teamed up with Israeli quilters Gail Solomon and Bobbe Reitman to issue a global call: create and send stunning, one-of-a-kind quilts for displaced Be’eri families. The response was overwhelming. Quilt artists of all backgrounds poured their hearts into radiant works of fabric art, shipped to Israel or hand-delivered by volunteers. By January 2025, more than 350 quilts had arrived, many with notes of love and/or small monetary donations tucked inside.
January 28 was D-Day. The Be’eri-in-Hatzerim community center buzzed with emotion. Tables steadfastly bore the weight of these treasures, each quilt a tacit testament of caring. One by one, Be’eri survivors and family members stepped forward, emotionally selecting a quilt and expressing appreciation for what is sure to become a treasured heirloom destined to warm both body and soul.
One widow, clutching a quilt with a note reading, “You are not alone,” whispered tearfully in response, “This is my new family now.” A BE’ERI kibbutz member selects a new family heirloom. (credit: KAREN FELDMAN)
The art of caring
A quilt can be viewed as a metaphor for life: coming together piece by piece, comprised of ordinary materials, yet emerging as a whole that is significantly greater than the sum of its parts.
Like a quilt, the Be’eri survivors’ story is stitched together from fragments – ordinary acts of kindness woven into something extraordinary. Amid global waves of uninformed and irrational hatred, it is heartening to keep in mind that there are also deep veins of caring and kindness.
As we move beyond merely coping to aspire to new goals and achievements, these currents of compassion remind us that healing, too, can be a collective art.
