Kibbutz Members Experience Yom Kippur Miracles, Including a Priest's First Blessing

A 73-year-old member of Kibbutz Ravadim, a community founded by the left-wing Hashomer Hatzair movement, participated in the priestly blessing for the first time in his life during Yom Kippur services this year. Daniel Geron, a 39-year-old kibbutz member who has been undergoing a process of religious observance, shared that while prayers were initially met with resistance from older members, including his own mother, the synagogue has become increasingly full over the years, with many children attending.

This year marked a significant moment when the community discovered a member was a Kohen (priest) and he was able to perform the Birkat Kohanim (priestly blessing). Geron noted that the man had never been taught about this tradition but expressed openness to participating in future Shabbat services. Geron's mother has also ceased her opposition to separate-gender prayer services.

Adding to the emotional experiences, Geron's father, a long-time kibbutz member raised on Hashomer Hatzair values, sat with him during the concluding Neilah prayer and prayed alongside him for the first time on Yom Kippur. Geron described these events as deeply moving, prompting him to share his story.

The article also briefly touches upon Kibbutz Giv'im, near the Gaza border, where Yom Kippur prayers were held in a new synagogue dedicated to a member killed on October 7th. During a conversation there, Gil Schwartzman, a retired brigadier general and CEO of a high-tech company, recounted how a bullet fired by terrorists at the kibbutz gate on October 7th, which penetrated the gate, left behind a shape resembling a Star of David. Schwartzman described this as a symbol of the enemy's intent to harm them, which inadvertently created a Jewish symbol and reflected the growing Jewish awakening since the Hamas attacks.