Life goes on in Israel. Cafes are full. People commute to work. Kids are in school. The ceasefire is holding with Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, for now. Yet, it is not hard to see that right below the surface of the day-to-day comings and goings, things in Israel are not really ok.
I spent the last week in Israel, meeting with my colleagues in Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest NJ’s Israel office, meeting with our friends in our Israel partner communities, and hearing from many of the non-profit organizations we partner with to support a strong Israeli society. I traveled along with members of Federation’s Israel and Overseas Allocations Committee (IOAC), and in a few days, we saw a lot—from Hurfeish on the border of Lebanon to Rishon LeZion in the center of the country to Ofakim and Merkhavim and Arad in the Negev to Kibbutz Erez on the Gaza border. Pretty much everywhere we went, you can’t miss what I would describe as a country-wide community art project—the stickers.
On street signposts and walls and bus stops, basically every outdoor spot available, there are stickers of people lost in the last 16 months.
The thousands killed on October 7 and those killed in captivity and those who died fighting in the war to protect the Jewish state. Each sticker is a person. A face. A name. The stickers come in different colors and include different personalized art. Quotes from the people who were lost. Tributes to their memory.
There are so many it is hard to take them all in.
We had a busy itinerary so most often the stickers passed by in a blur of sadness. When I could, I took a few minutes to linger and take in a particular name and face. I was overcome. I have a sense that this feeling of deep loss is what Israelis are experiencing much of the time. As Michal Zur, Executive Director of Greater MetroWest’s Israel Office put it, “we are still in the event.” She means that since October 7, 2023, Israelis have been in an ongoing and constant struggle. They do not feel “post-trauma” yet.
With hostages still being held by Hamas and funerals still taking place, the pain continues.
And so, stickers.
Shared public grief that also offers communal support. There are, of course, memorial services and prayers and lots said about what is going on. But when you walk the streets of cities and towns in Israel these days, no words are needed to share a common sense of purpose to remember each cherished member of the people of Israel.
May their memories be for a blessing. May the people of Israel find comfort.
And may all the hostages come home immediately, so that no more stickers need be posted on the streets of Israel.