Yaron Avraham, 46, apologized for the disaster, calling it” a dream come true” as he spoke to The Jerusalem Post. Almost nothing in the appearance of Avraham, a spiritual Jew, can provide any glimpse of his past life and terrible childhood experiences.
A dramatic home with an affiliation to the Islamic Movement in Israel gave birth to Avraham, the 12th child in an 18-person house in Lod. At age 7, we typically begin adhering to some of the Muslim precepts. This is when I was sent to temples for the first time, aspiring to be a spiritual and holy man. He remembered that I would awaken at 5:30 in the morning.
However, he was also exposed to violence at a very young years while growing up in a poverty-stricken community. ” I remember finishing my studies around 3 p. m., finding myself walking around with a suitcase full of medications to distribute between names I got”.
He was exposed to other forms of crime as well, including drug smuggling. Family pride is of the highest importance in our society. It is not a spiritual issue but a social one, with the value of preserving the honor of the family often yet bypassing some spiritual commandments, especially when it comes to women, something the Western world may find hard to grasp”, he explained.
People “must uphold the “honor of the home” by largely following what the people command, including how and when to leave the house, how to dress, whether to open a bank account and obtain a driver’s license, etc. “,” he said.
Sarah, my older sister, was there. When I was nine, she was in the 11th grade, between 17 and 18 years old. My older brother, a cruel and merciless drug dealer, yet pious in his way of life, approached Sarah one day and informed her that she was not allowed to leave the house without his consent. She had to get his permission for everything, including not to meet friends or go to school.
Sarah was not at all interested in listening, though. She had dreams and hopes and wanted to do everything that girls her age did, so she stood her ground. My brother was against that, and Sarah was soon the target of repeated, terrible violence from him and two of the other older brothers.  ,
” After three months of violence and torture, the older brother approached Sarah again and told her that he allowed her, in all his ‘ kindness,’ to go out to work, but only if she dressed modestly and returned home at a set curfew of 5 p. m. There would be no talking to men, no going out, not anything else, just from work, home, and back.
Sarah would occasionally arrive home late by a few minutes and be subject to beatings and reprisals. Around 8:30 p.m., she was “interrogated” by my brothers and admitted to going for a walk in the mall.  ,
” My oldest brother immediately realized that she had broken the family’s honor and had crossed a red line. This is a criminal offense that can only be punished once.
” Around 10- 10: 30 p. m., the older brothers dragged all of us to our rooms and locked us in them, while Sarah was locked in another one. The room next door also heard terrible beatings and screams, and it continued to go on that for hours.  ,
At around 12: 30 a. m., we started hearing the most horrible screams I have ever heard, of Sarah begging for her life. The three brothers had killed her there for the final 15 seconds of her life, and those were her last 15 as she perished.
” I can hear her screams in my ear to this day, even though it’s been 37 years. This is not something I can ever forget, a sister who screams and begs for her life – and then complete silence.  ,
No one knows where she is buried, but the body vanished at night. For some reason she is still defined as’ missing’ by the authorities,” Avraham added somberly.
The doors were soon open, but we never dared to leave our rooms. I arrived at 6:30 a.m. and discovered that the room where everything happened was spotless and lacked anything.
” I saw my mother sitting in the yard, her eyes red, crying. I inquired about my sister’s fate after she expressed sadness and resentment. My sister’s killer, my brothers, were also present, laughing and smoking nearby. It was as if death and killing were just a normal thing”.
In Gaza, stranded
Avraham’s questions were a red flag for the culprit brothers, for them. ” They thought I would endanger them so they had to get rid of me. I was forced to drive me to the car three days later, and I discovered myself abandoned in a mosque in Gaza.
Avraham spent more than five years residing in that mosque, which had a sort of boarding school. ” It was a difficult time for me. It was a cruel training for becoming a martyr. As a means of overcoming fear, I see it as a way to look fear in the eyes while also facing the fear of death.  ,
They made me go through death and discover the” thrill” in it. We were taken to the so-called shaheeds ‘ funerals. Imagine this: Children are made to walk past the corpses of those alleged martyrs, kiss their hands or feet, depending on what’s left of them. There is a lot of brainwashing about hell, heaven, and the afterlife.
” I did it by heart,” I thought. At the age of 12.5, there came a stage where, according to them, I now rose to a higher level and should continue the mission to fight the Jews. By the way, this conflict was never associated with an occupation. This conflict is religious. To this day, when I am asked when there’ll be peace, my answer is always:’ When the last Jew stops breathing,'” he added somberly.
When we were taken to a cemetery in the center of Gaza, close to a military base, at the age of 14, each of us had to go down and lie in a grave with our eyes closed while other children were reading verses from the Quran over us so that we could feel the so-called “ascension of the soul.” ‘ ,
” I also remembered how kids paid with their lives for various offenses, including the execution of two of my colleagues, aged 13 and 15, who were beheaded following accusations that they had sexual relations.
Death was a fundamental component of life, and there is a corresponding lack of significance. What we were taught to fear was life itself rather than death, Avraham said.
” After more than five years I decided I could not stay there. I confronted the disciplinary coordinator and expressed all of my anger toward him, including cursing and hitting. They called my brothers to remove me from that mosque, which I must admit, and punished me violently.  ,
They came to get me, unwarranted, of course. I believed I was returning home, but all they did was transfer me to a similar mosque close to Hebron.
” I was already 16 and had gained at least some self- confidence. After gathering “intelligence” from the area, I made the decision to run away one evening, looking for where I was and how I could get away. In the end, I was able to return home, and to be honest, my brothers were not at all pleased to see me there.
” They planned to drag me back to the mosque again, but they did n’t realize that they were not talking to the same nine- year- old, scared boy. After all, I had experienced education on the importance of becoming a martyr and had lived with death around me. I also had no fear of dying.  ,
” I confronted them and told them that the next time they drag me somewhere I will run away and report everything to the police and the army – or they should just take me and bury me next to Sarah.
They ultimately made the decision to leave me at home and lock me inside, but I only got there for two weeks because they kept telling me that what they did to Sarah was nothing compared to what they would do to me if I continued to be in trouble.
” I left when one of them forgot his keys to the door because I could n’t stay there any longer. I ran away and hid for 10 days in a Muslim cemetery. I searched for food in bins, and I avoided going out during the day. Ironically, it was the deceased who stood up for me against the living. Here too, death became my shield.
Angels en route
Avraham approached the Jewish owner, who happened to speak Arabic, after spending ten days in that cemetery.  ,
I requested food and drink, and he recognized my condition and brought a baguette and a bottle of water. I briefly told him that my sister had been murdered, and that I was burying my family in a cemetery. So he drove me to the central station in Tel Aviv, gave me money, and escorted me to a bus to Eilat.  ,
He said,” This is the farthest I can help you get away.” He was my first guardian angel.
Avraham walked aimlessly through Eilat until he passed a restaurant. Uzi Sadeh, a worker from the Work-Study Youth movement, saw me and recognized my problems. For an entire month he cared for my every need.
Do you assist every child you just see walking around, I asked him in the future. And he said to me,” Definitely no, but I saw you and I could n’t leave you hanging around on your own.”
Sadeh’s brother Rami was a parliamentary assistant to Benny Begin, then a Knesset member. Avraham was adopted and cared for by the three, who then moved him to a Tel Aviv home run by the Elem organization for young people in need.
” I was there until I was 18 when I decided to join the IDF. I was mainly jealous of the’ recruitment parties’ my Jewish friends had before they enlisted. I also believed there would have been a way to repay the angels who had supported me along the way because I had no money on me and felt like I had to pay them back in some way. I said,” I’m not afraid of death, so at least I’ll be a soldier.” “”
The home manager was less enthusiastic about the concept. So I turned to Begin, who worked tirelessly for six months until I was able to enlist in the Givati brigade. It was in the ranks of the IDF that I received the most important lesson antithetical to anything I had ever known before: the value and sanctity of life.
We spoke with our commander about the IDF’s instructions to stop a suspect from approaching, which included escalating calls to stop, threats in Arabic, shooting at them in the air, their feet, and only then if the threat is still present, shooting at the mass center.  ,
” I laughed and told him that if a terrorist comes to me and wants to kill me, and knows that this is the only thing separating him from heaven, he would n’t care less about this entire negotiation. I added the phrase” I know this because I was there, after all.” “”
The commander was surprised at what he heard, asking what he meant by” being there. ”  ,
We had a three-hour conversation, and this was the first time I understood the significance of taking a chance on someone else to save them or to be killed.  ,
It initially sounded strange to me, but it had a profound impact on me, and this concern with the sanctity of life was the catalyst for my desire to enlist in the Jewish people.
The Jewish ancestor’s history
Following his military service, Avraham studied cooking at the Tadmor hospitality school in Tel Aviv and worked in several restaurants across the city. ” I lived life in the most incredible way possible. I made friends, and I thought I was moving forward, but something was still missing.
” My best friend in Tel Aviv at the time was ultra- Orthodox, named Yaron. We had many discussions about Zionism, religion, and life. He once took me to my first Shabbat meal and brought me to synagogue with him on Shabbat evening.  ,
” This was my first time ever seeing a family meal that brings together parents and their kids, who were all joyful, laughing, and sharing their experiences,” said one witness. Growing up in a family like mys, I was unable to even begin to imagine anything of the sort.
” This sparked my interest in Judaism even further. I told Yaron I wanted to convert because I believed this was what I wanted. He initially had some reservations, but he eventually directed me to the Machon Meir in Jerusalem, where I went through a year-long conversion process.  ,
” They still provided me with everything I needed, even though I literally ascended from the enemy’s territory.” Not once was I allowed to be alone during a Sabbath or holiday. They helped me immerse myself in study, and learning in a Beit Midrash was a joy that I have never felt before – a feeling of true serenity and cleansing of the soul.
Everyone sang the song” Veshavu Banim L’gvulam” ( And the children shall come back to their own border ) as soon as I finished my conversion process and when I returned to the Beit Midrash. The moment in my life was the most exciting and moving.
” I went to the Western Wall, put on tefillin, and went up to the Torah for the first time, only to find out that the first parasha I am being called to was none other than Chayei Sarah – the life of Sarah, echoing the memory of my sister.  ,
I felt as though I was disintegrating there. It was the most incredible thing that happened to me in my life. Chayei Sarah was a day of rebirth for me, a true free man.
Avraham is now married and the father of three boys and three girls. ” I keep on asking myself what good have I done in life to have been given these blessings. Every night, I see my children in bed, sound asleep, and without fear of each other. I sincerely congratulate them on their liberation.
He lives in Jerusalem, giving talks about his journey from his horrible past to his present as a free man, and his path to conversion to become part of the Jewish people. I’ve been giving lectures to members of the security forces, yeshivas, students, schools, and communities. We have a wonderful population that I will always cherish. I receive so much love daily and still ca n’t believe what I’ve accomplished”.
He is currently working on a second dream, this time in the culinary industry, by opening a new restaurant in Jerusalem’s Givat Shaul called Bar Baguette. Right after Shavuot, it will open.
Modern lessons
Avraham has completely disassociated himself from his former self-reality. I do n’t miss them at all, but I have no contact with them. Some ask me about it, but I say that I have nothing to fear, certainly with a kippah on my head.  ,
I go all out and speak up. Let them be afraid – not me. Interestingly, those who are afraid of them will be the ones who suffer first. They are happy that I’m not afraid. ”  ,
However, sadly, Sarah’s case was never resolved. Seventy-seven years have passed, and Sarah is still regarded as “missing.” In the State of Israel there are hundreds of such women every year who disappear or are murdered, from all sectors of society. The unwritten law between the state and the Arab sector states, however, that the state will not interfere with anything that has to do with honor killings.
One of the most challenging situations we’ve had is ours as a nation and as a people. I came from the other side, and I know how they think there. What transpired on October 7 was neither a one-time incident nor the height of their cruelty for them. They wo n’t let go until they find the last Jew dead or deported.  ,
We have a propensity to be surprised when people are murdered, raped, and burned while we still wear silk gloves for hours. We are busy listening to what everyone has to say, and half the country is literally on fire.  ,
We must awaken and take good care of ourselves. If not, October 7 will keep coming up. They see the very attempt of October 7 as a success and victory. By the way, Israel is more concerned with the number of Palestinians killed than the Palestinians themselves.
Unfortunately, the solution is military and not political, as peace is impossible to achieve and only long-term agreements can be reached out of self-interest. But let there be no doubt, we all know who will win in the end: the Jewish people. There are no such people in the world, and we will undoubtedly prevail, I meet soldiers, commanders, and many others from so many different social groups. “
