Israelis are likely the most resilient people on earth. Their zeal for life overflows and, often, out of chaos comes steely resolve that says, “You might take a life, but you cannot destroy us!”

In 2017 when I attended a Christian Leaders Seminar at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum and Educational Center, one of the biggest take aways for me was the Jewish attitude that revenge comes in their perpetuation of life! Hitler and his minions thought they devised the perfect “final solution” to rid the world of Jews. Despite murdering almost 2/3 of European Jews and 1/3 of the entire Jewish population of that time, Jews quickly regenerated following liberation from the death camps and their return to their homeland. Today, the worldwide Jewish population has rebounded to similar numbers prior to the Holocaust, and amazingly, Israel has as many Jews as Europe did when Hitler set out to destroy them.

The attacks of October 7 certainly did not take anywhere close to the same number of lives, yet Hamas’ tactics were as gruesome, if not more so, than the Nazis. They turned kibbutzim from paradise to hell in a matter of hours.

Some of the most dramatic footage is coming out of Kibbutz Nir Oz, a beautiful farming kibbutz of about 400 people that lost over 1/2 of its residents, with many others kidnapped. It was horrific…yet in the end, Israelis stand defiantly vowing to re-build and move on with their lives. Paradise became living hell, but leave it to Israelis to stick it to their attackers by returning their beloved community to paradise once again.