About half a kilometer from the Gaza border, under the skies of southern Israel, Alon Freybach and Dani Nehmad were married over the weekend on the lawn beside the pool at Kibbutz Nahal Oz.
For the couple, both 27, it was more than a wedding. It was the first such event held at the kibbutz since the Oct. 7 massacre, when Hamas terrorists killed 16 people there and abducted residents.
For Freybach, Nahal Oz is part of his family identity. Though he did not live there full time, his paternal family is from the kibbutz, where his grandparents have lived almost since its founding.
“All the grandchildren and the whole family grew up there, in effect,” he said. “It’s our second home.”
On Oct. 7, the family was supposed to gather at the kibbutz. Some relatives had arrived the day before and were caught in the attack. Freybach, then a Golani Brigade officer in a company commanders course, was immediately called back to his unit, the Golani Reconnaissance Battalion.
During the fighting that followed, he took command of a company in Battalion 13, which fought in the Nahal Oz area that day. A year later, shortly after getting engaged to Nehmad, he was wounded in a clash between Rafah and Khan Younis.
“I took a bullet in the hand. It was paralyzed for about six months,” he said. “It sounds funny, but I think it was a successful encounter overall. I was the only one wounded, all my soldiers were unharmed, the terrorists were killed.”
The couple planned the wedding while Freybach was still recovering. Nehmad, a nursing student who works at Assuta Medical Center, suggested holding it at Nahal Oz.
Freybach said he initially struggled with the idea of marrying there before all the hostages had returned. But as living hostages and the bodies of hostages were brought back, and members of the community returned to the kibbutz, he said the decision felt right.
“We chose to hold such a special day, our wedding, and start our life together in a place where just a moment ago a terrorist organization wanted to destroy everyone,” he said. “Where they tried to kill us and annihilate us, we have to bring life and renewal.”
The wedding became a moment of connection for family, friends and soldiers, including many from the 13th Battalion and the Golani Brigade, who carried memories of battle and loss.
Dr. Elza Lavon, Nehmad’s supervisor and head of nursing at Assuta, said the personal milestone also reflected a national one.
“Her personal closing of a circle connects to a national closing of a circle,” Lavon said, “one that gives us hope for recovery and building a better future.”