On the morning of October 7, 2023, Agam, then 14, was feeling under the weather. He had spent the night at his grandparents’ home in Mivtahim and wasn’t fully aware of what was happening as the horrific events of that dark Saturday began to unfold.
“We woke up at 6:30 a.m., like everyone else,” he recalled. “There weren’t any rockets, but my grandfather immediately covered the windows, and we went into the safe room. I was exhausted, hadn’t slept, wasn’t feeling well… and then the shooting started.”
An hour later, it became clear that something on the moshav was very wrong.
“We started hearing bursts of gunfire. I didn’t understand what was going on. People were texting me, but I wasn’t really grasping it… We stayed in the safe room for 36 hours. Something felt different this time,” Agam remembered.
The next day, on October 8, his family was evacuated in a convoy to the Arava region. Agam, his parents, siblings, uncles, and another family – 17 people total – all squeezed into one house in Mikhmoret in Central Israel.
“We basically started a new life there,” he said. “And it’s not temporary. Right now, we have no plans to return to the Eshkol region.”
Since October 2023, Agam, now 15, has fully adapted to life in Mikhmoret. He has friends, school, and a daily routine. Still, one thing keeps him connected to Eshkol – his longtime friends. It was them who told him about The Jewish Agency’s Campers2Gether program.
Launched by The Jewish Agency in 2024, Campers2Gether provides young Israelis living in the shadow of the conflict a healing respite like no other through the summer camp experience. These Israeli youth impacted by the horrors of October 7 and the ongoing war undergo a transformative few weeks where they can enjoy being kids again, boost their resilience and form deep connections at Jewish overnight camps around the world
“I was excited to see my friends from Eshkol again and reunite after such a long time apart and to spend the summer connecting with teens from the U.S., practicing my English, and seeing how they live,” reflected Agam. “It was a different kind of summer and felt like a real break after a crazy year and a half.”
