Mandy and Jonathan Carr and their family made Aliyah six years ago from Prestwich. Mandy sent us a note from Ra’anana as the alive hostages were released.
We made Aliyah six years ago to Ra’anana which is a very diverse and welcoming community near Tel Aviv, with lots of people from all over the world. We just felt Israel is where we’re meant to be and we feel so relaxed and part of one big community.
The week before the October 7th tragedy, we had just had the Hasna hat Sefer Torah in memory of our son Joshua Freddie z”l. It was the most amazing evening with our daughters Dalya and Liat, both who have been serving in the IDF, and family and friends dancing in the streets. Little did we know how things were going to change a few days later.
We’re one big family here and everyone wants to help one another; it’s been intense but in a warm, loving way. We spent time during the war helping our soldiers with barbeques and deliveries of food and equipment. Dalya collected donations in the UK for the evacuees from the kibbutzim on the Gaza border and the north, we took clothes and anything they needed to help them settle in hotels.
It has been a very difficult time. Every time a soldier had fallen we checked in with friends and family whose children are serving. We sadly lost two soldiers in our local community, and this hit us all badly. We remember 900 soldiers and the lives of so many innocent people lost on the day of the tragedy.
But with the news of the release of the alive hostages, Yom Tov here has been crazy!
Celebrations in Hostage Square and all around, and the usual Simchat Torah joyful chaos in the streets. We were all glued to the television when they were released! It was amazing, but still we feel pain for the families who haven’t had their relative’s body released yet, and seeing all the released prisoners – many serving sentences for criminal activities – has been difficult for us.
Israel is a resilient country, and we stand together, embrace peace all across the region, and hope for the country to flourish. Love to all back home in Manchester.
