WORTHY TRIBUTES

Jewish Agency honors father and son slain in Oct. 7 attacks with award for children who demonstrated resilience during the war

The award is named for Ofir Libstein, the mayor of the Gaza-adjacent Sha'ar Hanegev region, and his son, Nitzan, who overcame PTSD as a child

When Nitzan Libstein was in second grade, a mortar shell fired from the Gaza Strip exploded outside his home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, just east of Gaza City — a traumatic event that, coupled with the loss of his grandfather a few weeks later, stayed with him for years, causing him severe difficulties at school and disciplinary issues. Through an at-risk youth program in northern Israel, Libstein overcame his post-traumatic stress disorder and returned to the kibbutz, “a model for self-improvement,” as a former teacher later put it.

On the morning of Oct. 7, 2023, Libstein, then 19, was in his apartment on the kibbutz when terrorists burst in, shooting him in the leg. Losing blood, he made his way to a bomb shelter and fashioned a tourniquet for himself out of a telephone wire. But eventually, he succumbed to his wounds as he tried to get to safety. Elsewhere in Kfar Aza, his father — Ofir Libstein, the mayor of the local Sha’ar HaNegev region — was also killed by terrorists as he attempted to defend the kibbutz from the onslaught. 

This week, the Jewish Agency announced that it was creating a new award in honor of both Nitzan and Ofir Libstein honoring children who demonstrated exceptional resilience and resourcefulness during the war.

“Nitzan was able to come back from his post-trauma and to help other children and teenagers going through the same thing… and [the award] is a very important way to mark his memory and Ofir’s memory to say that in spite of everything we are going through we can come out stronger and hopeful to the future,” Ayelet Nahmias-Verbin, the head of the the Jewish Agency’s Fund for Victims of Terror, told eJewishPhilanthropy. “I think the most important thing about the resilience award is that hope is always there and these children and teenagers and youth movements are the hope for all of us.”

The “Resilience Award for Children and Youth” will be given to honor youth ages 6-13 by the Jewish Agency, along with Keren HaYasod, the Resource Center and the Libstein family. The award, which will be given to 12 recipients, will be presented to the winners in April. It is meant to “promote a discourse of resilience and hope, illuminate the exceptional stories of the younger generation, and emphasize our ability to recover and act for the collective good, even in challenging times,” the Jewish Agency said in a press release.

Nahmias-Verbin noted that children and teenagers who take part in the Jewish Agency’s Fund for Terror Victims  activities and camps have shown the “incredible ability” to be resilient despite having gone through the traumatic events of Oct. 7 and afterwards including long-term displacement and this is not just a matter of  heroism but rather an expression of the ability to continue with life even in a different way. Children and teens have demonstrated remarkable capability to reconnect with people and help their siblings and parents, move to different schools and to go back to extracurricular activities in an exceptional way, she added.

“That is why the award is extra important for all of us. We see the way they have been able to pull through it is truly incredible. This was the motivation for us. There are families of hostages, bereaved families, families of wounded and they have been able to show not only support for their own family but also to the community and the national resilience,” she said. “Their contribution was incredible.”

A professional committee will evaluate the nominations and choose the winners based on the uniqueness of their actions, resourcefulness, impact on the community and their contribution to fostering resilience. Nahmias-Verbin told eJP that the award may become an annual initiative. 

From the nominees, 25 inspiring young individuals will be selected, with 12 of them receiving a scholarship of NIS 4,000 ($1,100) and invited to the award ceremony. The stories of the winners will be documented in a video, and the 25 stories that reach the final stage will be compiled into a digital book, which will be made available to the public.