Passover and the Crisis of Jewish Identity
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These five Israeli couples, widows and widowers, are rebuilding their hearts—and their nation's future.
In the Talmud, when a person loses a spouse, we're told that "the altar sheds tears." Yet even though it is heartbreaking for love that was meant to last a lifetime to be lost, Judaism views remarriage in such circumstances not as betrayal, but as an ultimate affirmation of life itself. Honoring the past doesn't require abandoning the future.
October 7th left behind multitudes of widows and widowers, their lives shattered by terror. Many believed they would never love again, that their hearts had been buried alongside their beloved. For some, this understandably - yet sadly - remains the case.
But in the almost two years since October 7th, something remarkable has emerged: stories of Israelis who lost everything choosing to rebuild, to remarry, to say "yes" to life once again.
Through shared grief, these couples have discovered shared hope, finding the strength to love again as a fulfillment of the sacred bonds touched by loss. Their courage to love again offers a profound lesson in what it means to choose life over death, hope over despair.
Naomi Haimov at first never imagined she could laugh again, never mind find love. When her husband Aharon, a 25-year-old MDA ambulance driver, was murdered on October 7th while racing to save lives in Ofakim, she was left with two young children and a shattered heart. "I didn't think it was possible to laugh, to rejoice and to love again," she reflected. "I didn't believe that somebody could live with the great love that I have for Aharon in my heart."
But love found her anyway. Now engaged to Avner Yosefi, a Kosher supervisor from Jerusalem, Naomi discovered that her heart had room for both past and present love. "But then it came. The one who was capable, ready and able. To think that I once again can love and be loved." Her journey proves that choosing life doesn't diminish previous love—it honors it.
Naomi and Avner (Yehuda z’’l in corner) from Facebook
Two houses on the same street in small northern town of Harish. Two devastating losses. Two hearts learning to love again. Hadas lost her husband Elisha, a soldier who fell in Gaza in December 2023, leaving her with six children. Hod lost his wife Chagit after childbirth complications, raising four daughters alone. Neighbors who became friends, then something deeper.
Before entering Gaza, Elisha had instructed Hadas of his wishes: "If something happens to me—get married as soon as possible." Now engaged to Hod, she explains their unique approach: "We both deeply love our previous partners. Not loved in past tense—we love them. They're with us and very present... We cry over them, we miss them together, and we talk about them freely." Together, they're building a home for ten children, proving love multiplies rather than divides.
Hadas and Hod (Facebook)
A few months prior to October 7, Rabbi Leo Dee's world shattered on April 7, 2023, when terrorists murdered his wife Lucy and daughters Maia and Rina while driving on their way to a hike. After 25 years of marriage, he faced an unimaginable choice: surrender to despair or rebuild from the fragments.
"About a year ago, I was home for Shabbat by myself for the first time in years," Dee recalls. "I sat down and cried, sobbing in the stillness for half an hour. I realized at that point that I didn't want to be alone anymore."
Now engaged to Jerusalem resident Aliza Teplitsky after dating for three and a half months, Dee has learned a profound truth: "I am not one person anymore. I am a mosaic—pieces gathered from a 25-year marriage, from raising five children, from loss, and from healing."
Leo Dee and his fiancé, Aliza Teplitsky, after getting engaged in Gush Etzion, June 19, 2025. (from Facebook)
Just one week after their engagement, Ben Binyamin and Gali Segal attended the Supernova music festival to celebrate their upcoming marriage. Instead, they found themselves fleeing Hamas terrorists into a roadside shelter, where grenades tore through their dreams—and their right legs. Waking up in adjacent hospital beds, they discovered they had both survived the same devastating injury.
Ben and Gali leaving the hospital. (Photo: Spokesman, Hillel Yaffe Medical Center)
"There are days that I don't even want my family to see me. But I don't have a problem with Ben because what I'm going through, he's going through," Gali reflected. Through months of rehabilitation, they practiced their wedding dance on prosthetic legs. On July 25th, 2024, they walked down the aisle together—Gali's prosthetic decorated with white sparkles, their medical team in attendance, choosing celebration over surrender.
Ben and Gali (State of Israel’s Facebook account)
Yuval Zaushnicar and Roee Chapel shared five beautiful years together, planning their future trip to New Zealand after his military discharge. When Roee fell defending Kibbutz Sufa on October 7th, Yuval discovered he had secretly planned to propose during their dream adventure. After more than a year of mourning, she started dating and is now engaged to Alon, a decision supported by Roee's mother, Orit.
"It's not Yuval's job to be a living monument for society," Orit declared publicly after Yuval faced some online backlash on her engagement announcement. "This relationship is a kind of triad—Roee is with you either way. Choose yourselves. Every morning anew, get up... not according to others' standards, but only from your own truth. The man you loved and lost remains forever part of you."
Yuval Zaushnicar with Roee’s mother, Orit (from her account on X)
These remarkable stories teach us that resilience is about transforming pain into renewed life and purpose. Each of these couples has learned that love doesn't diminish when shared anew; it multiplies.
On a national level, these remarriages represent acts of defiance against those who sought to destroy the Jewish People. Every new union declares that terror will not have the final word, that the Jewish People's commitment to life is stronger than any force of destruction. When Hamas set out to shatter families, these couples responded by building new ones.
Their weddings embody the eternal Jewish principle of "choosing life", proving that even in our darkest hours, the human spirit can find light.
Hadas' message is particularly poignant and meaningfulit captures the essence of Jewish continuity after disaster, cv"s; may we be zocheh only to besoros tovos and yeshuos.
Mazel tov blessings to all the special couples!
Thank you for a fantastic article. I had read announcements of Rabbi Dee's engagement and Hadas's Lowenstern's engagement, but to get a some background of the stories really lifted my heart. Hadas is my heroine. I've heard her speak so much about her husband, I doubted she could ever marry again. But Hadas always supersedes my expectations.
When Holocaust Survivors ( obm ) lost their loved ones during the Holocaust they did the same, they found other spouses to rebuild their lives and the Jew8sh people, I wish everyone a very heartfelt Mazel Tov, and lots of Mazel and al, the best on your lives journey together
It could be it shows trust in Hashem. It's a mitzva to get married, to be a spouse. It's an opportunity to give constantly, accruing more and more mitzvot.
However, obviously, it takes tremendous courage and trust in Hashem to start over after such loss.
Mazal tov!
(As the song goes..."and a Yid never breaks and a Yid never gives up in the night...)
Beautiful news!!! That´s the beggining of rebuilding, the dawn of hope and may each person who suffered such personal and devastating losses find their opportunity to love and feel loved again. I personally read all about Hadas a few weeks after losing her husband and I was so surprised by her resilience, her willingness to go up and forward, her valour and her example to her children! I met her once in a Jerusalem hotel that was hosting a weekend for fallen soldiers´s families and it was such a sobering experience! I felt: these people are REAL, not just names and topics of news, HERE THEY ARE. It was a very moving experience. May Hashem bless them with all the happiness and Siyata Dishamaya, and see the fulfillment of the pasuk: Gladen us as You inflicted us.
Amen !
These new love stories show the resilience of the devastated heart, by Hashem at the exact moment each one who suffered loss beyond words, was transformed in unexpectedly ways, opening their broken hearts, being led to their new, Divine loves...in Faith, to become engaged as they celebrate their renewed belief and trust, in their sacred engagements to be married! Mazel tov to all their beautiful families who once again are blessed to feel joy, wonder, profound happiness and hope for a fulfilling present and illuminating future!