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The blizzard of destruction, torture, murder and kidnapping unleashed by Hamas invaders from Gaza on October 7, 2023, plunged Israel into an ongoing war and left tens of thousands of Israelis homeless and jobless.
Even as the war continues to rage on several fronts, efforts to rehabilitate the affected areas and its citizens are in full swing.
One such program is Restart, launched last May by Kolot (Voices), a pluralistic beit midrash (house of study) to accelerate community projects benefitting Gaza border communities. Alongside entrepreneurial skills, participants attend Kolot classes to strengthen their connection with Jewish values.
Restart also went on the road, taking participants to Chicago and Detroit to present their projects in various Jewish and non-Jewish communities.
Here’s a list of the recently graduated first cohort of 15 visionaries and their projects to aid the Gaza border region (known as the “Envelope” or Otef in Hebrew):
- Doron Salomon, whose son was killed on October 7, is launching a series of cultural festivals to bring art and nature experiences back to the Gaza envelope (Otef).
- Yael Shelli, a physiotherapist specializing in hydrotherapy, created a holistic health initiative for women in the Otef.
- Orly Petel-Aharon, whose close friend was kidnapped, established “Mothers of the Enclave,” a community of 7,000 women that provides real-world and online support.
- Elyasaf Miara, a graffiti artist, has transformed over 80 bomb shelters into vibrant, hopeful spaces.
- Sapir Efraim, who worked with Livnat Kutz, who was killed along with her entire family on October 7, has revived Kutz’s open communal space for the arts, turning Beit HaMelacha into a thriving enterprise once again.
- Esther Akiva, CEO of a center providing technological education to Bedouins, is establishing a training center to support informal education systems for Otef communities.
- Ohad Cohen, CEO of Geenie.ai, is heading the foundation of “A Future for the Otef,” mobilizing public involvement and local leadership to strengthen the Otef.
- Vered Glass is working with the Sderot welfare division to lead an innovative project offering networks of communal support to families in crisis.
- Yarin Sultan started Otef Yisrael Forum with the goal of helping residents reconcile with the security reality and understand that they have the power to influence policymakers to implement strategic changes.
- Yaffa Tabeje is starting an initiative to encourage and support people from the Gaza Envelope to access and pursue advanced degree programs in academia.
- Alex Vaintrov, who has spearheaded national employment programs for people with disabilities, is building “Making the Future Local,” a leadership training program for the Otef region.
- Sivan Shefer, who works with therapeutic dogs and horses, plans to have community members and soldiers with PTSD help her build a therapeutic-educational-rehabilitative farm doubling as regional hub for healing and volunteering.
- Tomer Kotler began Iron Business to provide struggling Otef business owners with volunteer professional mentoring.
- Adi Rozen has expanded her Culinary Story food tours in affected areas of the southwest.
- Rafael Sason is aggregating small- and medium-sized businesses from the Otef onto a website where corporate HR managers throughout Israel can choose services for employees such as happy hours, fun days and holiday gifts.
Let’s look more closely at the last three projects to see how they exemplify Restart’s mission to assure the future of the northern Negev.
Iron Business
Tomer Kotler, 28, a flight instructor as well as social entrepreneur, lives in Gan Talmei Yosef in the Otef.
“Two weeks after October 7, I met a friend from Kibbutz Re’im [near the Supernova party where hundreds were murdered or kidnapped] and we talked about what needs to be done to go back to our hometowns and improve them,” Kotler explains.
Kotler contacted Movilim, an organization of graduates of the Air Force’s Pilot Course for Generations, which runs society-strengthening projects including entrepreneurship mentoring by pilots with business experience.
Together with a friend in digital advertising, Kotler adapted this program for business owners in the Otef. The first cohort of 15 finished in August and now Iron Business is collaborating with the 8200 Alumni Association to work with another 15. All services are pro bono.
While not every small business can be saved, there have been happy endings for Iron Business mentees such as Julie Gotliv, owner of a French bakery severely damaged in the Hamas attacks.
With the guidance of mentor Ophir Bear, a former fighter pilot and a successful entrepreneur, Gotliv refurbished and reopened her bakery with a small grant from Movilim and a website donated by Wix.
Culinary Story
Adi Rozen, 44, reminds us that the northern Negev communities of southwest Israel have been suffering continuous rocket fire and other acts of terror for two decades, not only since October 7.
For the past six years, Rozen has been leading Culinary Story food tours in the region. Through Restart, she’s revived and expanded this business.
“I want people to come to the south and see it through the eyes of those of us who chose to live here — and chose to come back and live here after October 7 — and love this area despite the challenges we’ve had these 24 years. The combination of great food and fascinating personal stories is the perfect way to fall in love with our Otef.”
Her tours (in Hebrew and English) visit culinary hotspots in Ashkelon, Sderot, Netivot, Ashdod and Kiryat Malachi. “We meet restaurant owners and eat dishes that many people haven’t tasted before, like [Georgian] khachapuri and Moroccan soup.”
Rozen and her family lived in Netiv HaAsara, where 22 people were killed on October 7. It is still off limits due to safety concerns.
“But I know one day it will come back,” she says. “One thing I learned through the Kolot sessions was the concept of radical optimism. Without hope, we have nothing. We must believe in good, and we must continue on.”
Tav 8
Rafael Sason, 40, lives in Kibbutz Negba next to Ashkelon and owns FoodStation, which imports food trucks and creates food-truck complexes in Israel.
“I noticed that small businesses in the south were very hurt by October 7. Their clientele is based in the communities around them, but those communities were evacuated. So I thought about how we can bring Otef businesses out of the Otef,” he tells ISRAEL21c.
Taking advantage of an existing infrastructure, Sason is raising funds to build his website for HR managers on the platform of MetGo, a startup that promotes northern Negev businesses and developed a leisure and tourism app for the region.
One of the original investors in MetGo was Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council Head Ofir Libstein, a Kolot alumnus who was murdered on October 7. The Restart program is dedicated in his memory.
Through the program, Sason says, he learned “how to grow from a disaster and find your inner strength, define your vision and find the right people to believe in your dream.”
To find out more about Sason’s Tav 8 initiative, email him at rafaelspro@gmail.com.
For more information on Kolot, click here.
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