As three years approach since October 7th, we remember Eynav Elkayam Levy
For the past three hours, I have had on the news from Channel 12 in Israel from the morning of October 7th, 2023.
I don't know how long this has been available to watch on my television, but I wasn't aware of it.
More than three hours in, so at about 9:30am local time on that Black Saturday, the news of young people racing through the desert has only just started to come in.
A phone call to the news channel from a man whispering - because he is hiding somewhere outside - has also just come in.
The man in the studio is so shocked by this, that he lets out a laugh after the call, despite quickly adding that this isn't the first call "like this" that they have received that morning.
Despite the three hours of news slowly coming in, of white pick-up trucks packed with Hamas terrorists taking over Israel's south, of rockets landing and setting fires all over the place, and of texts coming in from desperate families locked in their safe rooms - saying "CALL THE ARMY - WE ARE ALONE HERE AND THEY ARE OUTSIDE OUR HOMES!" - despite all of this - the people at the news desk have no idea what is happening to Am Israel - to the people of Israel - in the mass hundreds - as they are sitting at their news desks starting to analyze the situation.
This will not be a long read.
Instead, I want to share the story of one family in an under-five-minute video I made.
Until February 11th, 2025, I shared the story of hostage Or Levy multiple times a week, following my interview with his brother Michael on January 1st, 2024.
I fought for Or Levy tirelessly and prayed for his family. This is their story, and the very short film is dedicated to the memory of his beautiful wife, Eynav.
On Wednesday, October 7th, 2026, I will be volunteering from noon until 10pm - at the site where the Nova Music Festival occurred.
It is the site where hundreds of young people went to dance and celebrate peace and love, and where 376 were brutally slaughtered either at the festival, during their attempts to escape, or where they were hunted - hiding in nearby bomb shelters, bushes, cars, garbage containers, porta potties, or anywhere they could find.
Or and Eynav were just two of the many hundreds who experienced the horror of trying to escape the Nova Festival. In the video within the video, only eight out of 30 survived.
Until today - I have not made this video public - but now I am welcoming you to share it as widely as possible.
Help the world understand what happened here in Israel, by sharing these important stories.
Melanie Preston is a Jewish writer who made Aliyah for the second time by herself following the October 7th terror attack. Her self-funded work humanized the hostage crisis for the international community through interviews with families, and she has extensively covered the southern communities as they work to rebuild their lives, as well as life on the ground during the Iran war. To support her telling of these important stories, click the donate button or visit her GoFundMe page. Thank you and Shalom from Israel.
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