Last Minute Post - on ELECTION DAY in Israel

Last night at 10pm, less than an hour after I posted my article on "Election Eve," I finally received a video from Udi Goren, going through each of the candidates. Udi is the cousin of Tal Chaimi, who was taken hostage on October 7th from Kibbutz Nir Yitzchak, where I mentioned volunteering with the one-year-old babies last year for my first three months after returning to Israel to live. Tal's wife Ela, was in her safe room on the 7th with their three children, and the fourth - in her stomach - when Tal ran out to do security for the kibbutz - and never returned. For the first two months following the attack, they thought he had been taken hostage alive, but in December of 2023, they learned he had been murdered on the kibbutz, and then taken to Gaza. I met his cousin Udi in Hostage Square later on, where I volunteered for years. He was giving an interview and wearing a t-shirt with Tal's picture on it. I introduced myself and said I worked with baby Lotan - the baby who had not yet been born on October 7th. I had a very special connection with Lotan, who was brought to us halfway through my time volunteering, after his family returned to the Kibbutz from being evacuated to a hotel. He was one and a half years old, and it was his first time being separated from his mom, his grandmother and his three siblings, so he cried all day every day, and was often given to me, as I seemed to be the only one who could quiet him down.

Me and Lotan Chaimi

I sang many songs to him for my second month and a half, and as I rocked him back and forth for hours, I remember being just as comforted by his presence as I hoped I was for him - as he was exactly the reason I returned to Israel - to carry the weight of what he had been through, yet didn't even know he had been through... I don't know how many of my subscribers are here in Israel, but even for those abroad, this short video by Udi Goren, explains the complexity of our election system, and even more importantly - it shows the perspective from an Israeli who lived through this war as a family member of a hostage. I feel so many people abroad miss this side of things, so I hope you will take the time to watch it, regardless of whether you are casting a ballot or not. As for me, I am still deciding between two candidates - and I am not the only one... Udi's election breakdown - which I can't manage to "embed" - to please click the link: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1f79KRZeYb/

Tal Chaimi Z'L, of Kibbutz Nir Yitzchak, may he rest in peace

Ela Balberman Chaimi, Tal's widow, and her four beautiful children

From Tal's funeral last year, which I attended when he was finally returned from Gaza

In case you want to help: 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.