Kibbutz Be’eri Hosts Wedding and Homecoming

By Sivan Rahav-Meir

The first wedding at the shul of Kibbutz Be’eri (where 130 people were killed in the Hamas massacre on October 7, 2023). This is one of the most popular photos on the internet this week.

I shared it too, but I didn’t know the whole story. This is what the groom, Elad Dubnov, wrote to me:

“Mika and I had a civil wedding on October 7, 2022, so on the terrible date of October 7, 2023, we hoped to celebrate our first anniversary.

“But we woke up to a nightmare. Mika is from Kibbutz Be’eri, and her family was out of contact, in a shelter, for hours. Only after two days did we find out that her aunt, Galit Meisner, was murdered.

“On October 8, I went to reserve duty, Mika was at home, and we decided… to get married. According to the laws of Moshe and Yisroel. And in the kibbutz, in the shul of Be’eri. A picture of victory. I always wanted to get married this way, and now my wife agreed too.

“The chuppah was conducted by Rabbi Yitzhak Cohen from the organization ‘Ayelet HaShachar,’ and it was very emotional. One of the guests dear to our hearts was Aviad Bachar, a family friend, who lost his son Carmel and his wife Dana.

“The most emotional moment for me was when Aviad, who also lost his leg, stood under the chuppah and recited the blessing ‘Baruch Ata Hashem Yotzer Haadam – Blessed are You, O Lord, Creator of man.’

“We didn’t come to Be’eri just to get married. We made another decision: we are returning to settle in Be’eri! We will return to the kibbutz, live there in the future, and raise our children there, for the sake of our community and for ourselves.'”