In the Israel of 2025, resilience is no longer just another word. It has become our national theme and promise, and it’s the cornerstone of our work at the Koby Mandell Foundation.  

Resilience is the look on the face of Avichai, who hasn’t smiled or laughed since his mother told him his brother was killed in battle, now seen smiling as he is carried on his counselor’s shoulders, dancing through the dining hall at Camp Koby. Resilience is Roni, a young girl whose mother was killed on Oct. 7, singing at the top of her lungs, hand in hand with her fellow bereaved campers. 

Resilience is the scene of dozens of young widows at a widows retreat: sitting in circles, holding their young babies, laughing through the tears as they tell jokes about their husbands, who left them to defend the people of Israel on the morning of Oct. 7 and never returned.   

And resilience is the story of the families whose children and siblings were killed at the Nova music festival, who come together to share and give strength to each other at Koby Mandell Foundation retreats.  

But it’s also more than that.  

On Jan. 19, the night of the release of Emily Damari, Romi Gonen and Doron Steinbrecher from captivity in Gaza, we ran a previously scheduled program for teenage orphans who lived in kibbutzim Kfar Aza and Beeri on the Gaza border. Three of the teenage orphans joining us were kidnapped themselves on Oct. 7; they were released 55 days later in the very first hostage exchange. 

We sat and watched this latest hostage release together, and they were able to share their own experience with our staff.  

The following week, we had a program for widows whose husbands were murdered by terrorists — terrorists who were scheduled to be released in the next hostage exchange. We were able to listen to their stories and offer them comfort. 

We spend a lot of time in the homes of the bereaved. We have 60 volunteers who go to the homes of widows who lost their husbands on Oct. 7 and during the Swords of Iron War. The volunteers visit the families in the afternoons, providing support to each widow and taking care of her children. These women tell us how important this time is for them, that it’s something they and their kids look forward to every week.  

We stand at the epicenter of Israeli history and society right now, offering 23 years of experience in bereavement support. We hear over and over from families that our programs change their lives. That our staff brings them comfort, healing and love. Families are so grateful to be part of the Koby Mandell family.

Because we ourselves are a bereaved family, they know we get it. 

They know that my brother was brutally murdered in a terror attack all those years ago. They know my parents found the courage to help themselves, our family and others, and we decided that our personal tragedy would not allow us to be defeated. 

In the coming months and years, as we hope and pray that Israeli society will be able to return to some sort of “normalcy,” we also know that for those most directly affected by this war life will never be the same.

Yet a life changed by tragedy need not be a life not lived. That is our message of resilience — one that can become the true calling card of our nation, bereaved and challenged, as we move into a new and better period ahead.

Eliana Mandell Braner is the executive director of the Koby Mandell Foundation.