A brief story of a fender-bender, and then: The most documented pogrom in Jewish history
A lovely story is making its way around Israeli social media. And an introduction to the work of Eli Katzoff
The follow tweet is making its way around Israeli social media. It’s a sweet story, but the truth is, we see and hear things like this all the time. Something amazing has bubbled to the surface here. I just pray we can sustain it. Here’s the tweet and below the screenshot, the translation.
Translation:
This moved me to tears.
A story of the people of Israel...
Zvika Gringlik hit a car. He exchanged details with the owner of the car and he said to the owner of the car: “No problem, I'm to blame, I wasn't okay and we'll fix what you need in the car.”
They arranged to meet together at the garage on Wednesday.
On Wednesday she arrives at the garage and Zvika Greenlick does not come. She tries to call him and he does not answer his phone. He disappears, as if the earth swallowed him.
Thursday the woman sends him a message: “I'm really disappointed, your behavior is not nice, we arranged for Wednesday and you didn't come.”
He sees the message and immediately sends her a message back: “I'm very sorry, on Tuesday my son Shaul was killed in Gaza, so I couldn't come.”
The woman immediately apologized. She herself had been at the funeral but she did not make the connection that he was Shaul's father.
That same day, she arrived at the shiva home and comforted the family. During the shiva, Zvika told her: ‘When the shiva is over, I will transfer the amount of the repair to you.”
She told him: “Don’t worry about it, I don't want the money.”
At the first opportunity he had, he transferred NIS 2,000 to her via Bit [DG – Israel’s “Venmo”]
She sent him a message that made him weep:
“There is no need. The owner of the garage heard that the person who hit the car was the father of a soldier who fell in Gaza, so he fixed the car without taking money.”
This is the true story of the people of Israel
Uri Shechter
In the photo: Zvika Gringlick on the grave of his late son Shauli, z’l
Photo: Koko
Now on to documentation:
It is obvious that October 7 is the most documented pogrom in history. The Hamas murderers, themselves, documented the barbarism on their own phones and GoPros. In addition, though, Israeli society has been documenting what happened in infinite and creative ways.
The National Library of Israel is engaged in a documentation project we will soon write about. There was a Nova Exhibition, designed to recreate a sense of the rave at which thousands were celebrating on October 7, and at the same time, to serve as a memorial to the 400 who were slaughtered. We will report on that Exhibition in a couple of weeks.
In addition to the above and much more, there has also been a great deal of work by individual photographers and filmmakers. Today, we highlight the work of Eli Katzoff, by linking to three of his brief films. You can learn about Eli at his website, or on the Times of Israel video page.
Eli Katzoff is an award-winning filmmaker currently living between the US and Israel. His work has been showcased to audiences worldwide.
After the events of October 7th, Katzoff's filmmaking took a poignant turn as he directed his lens towards the tumultuous new realities facing Israel and the Jewish world. Through his lens, he has been exploring the complexities of identity, resilience, and the profound impact of conflict on individuals and communities.
What a beautiful story. i so admire the stories of national unity I hear. I live in Philadelphia in the US and it seems that every event becomes an excuse for violence or looting, not coming together. Sending love and prayers to all the brave people of Israel.
Israeli solidarity is a lesson for us all. 🇮🇱🇮🇱🇮🇱