From Trauma to Together: How Atlanta and Nahal Oz Are Rebuilding #AsOne

March 20, 2026

As the attacks of October 7 unfolded, the community of Nahal Oz was evacuated to Kibbutz Mishmar HaEmek in the Meggido Regional Council. When the dust settled, Atlanta and St. Louis were the first to step up and create a new partnership with Nahal Oz, adding the heavily impacted kibbutz to our longstanding partnership with Yokneam-Meggiddo, through the Communities 2Gether initiative of the Jewish Agency.  Since October 7, Atlanta and St. Louis have stood alongside Nahal Oz through a formal three-year partnership focused on the community’s evolving needs. 

This February, a delegation of leaders from Kibbutz Nahal Oz spent five powerful days in Atlanta. These five delegates did more than share their story; they strengthened a partnership rooted in resilience, responsibility, and shared destiny. 

In the immediate aftermath of that fateful day, when government systems were overwhelmed, it was Federation’s partnership region representative who  made the first phone call, with a simple message: take your time, assess what you need, and we will help fill the gaps.  

Together, they prioritized mental health, community rebuilding, and the needs unique to Nahal Oz. 

For Nahal Oz Community Director, Naomi, telling her story is both painful and necessary. “I feel like I live in a movie at the moment,” she shared. “The power of telling my story is… to process it in a way that I can live with it”. 

After hiding for hours on October 7 and losing friends and neighbors, she described how rebuilding now comes in small victories: “My winning is living, seeing my kids happy, drinking coffee with my husband, cooking, my apple cake.” 

Michal, a community leader who was among the first to alert security that terrorists had infiltrated the kibbutz, spoke about the long road ahead. “It will take at least five years to come back to some normalization,” she explained. 

For Michal, the visit to Atlanta is not just financial support but strength: “We found friends, not only people behind the money. I’m returning home with more strength and more ability to look at the future. Because I’m not alone.” 

Yael emphasized the communal trauma carried by a kibbutz of just 420 people that lost 15 members and saw eight taken hostage. 

Federation support enabled critical communal healing, including bringing the entire displaced community together for their first memorial gathering after October 7.  

“We are a community that is traumatized,” Yael said, underscoring why sustained partnership matters.  

For Nadav, a young adult leader, this trip also represented the future, connecting with Atlanta’s young adults, students, and emerging leaders who will carry this partnership forward. 

During their trip to Atlanta, delegates met with over 600 Jewish and non-Jewish Atlantans, including students, interfaith leaders, donors, and families. They answered difficult questions. They shared grief. They expressed gratitude. “Federation is one word,” one delegate reflected, “but through this trip we have met hundreds of people, and now we have a face behind the organization.”  

For Jewish Atlanta, the impact was deeply personal. For Nahal Oz, it was a reminder that they are not rebuilding alone. And for our donors, this partnership reflects Federation at its best: sustained, thoughtful, relationship-driven support that adapts as needs evolve. 

As Michal said simply, “We are not alone. We have partners with us.” And together, we continue moving forward, strengthening one another.