Beryl Wajsman – The Suburban LJI Reporter
The Suburban had the opportunity for an exclusive interview last week with the family of Tiferet Lapidot, who was killed by Hamas terrorists during their Oct. 7 attack on Israel. She was at the Super Nova music festival, where some 260 people were killed. The family had thought she was a hostage in Gaza, but her body was found in Israel Oct. 17. Tiferet’s story sparked considerable interest throughout the country as she was one of six Canadians killed on Oct.7. Her family’s ties to Canada go back to her grandmother’s life in Saskatchewan and the family maintained joint Israeli-Canadian citizenship. The interview took place at the Israeli Consulate in Montreal and was made possible by Amb. Paul Hirschson, Israel’s Consul-General. We interviewed Sarit Lapidot, Tiferet’s mother; Ohad Lapidot, Tiferet’s father; Harel Lapidot, Tiferet’s uncle and Rashit Lapidot, Tiferet’s sister.
The Suburban: It would be impossible to think of the pain you mustallbe feeling, but tell us what do you want people to know from what you all have lived through?
Ohad: The threat that the Western world is fighting. Israel is just the frontier for a great threat that we have to peace and our own concept of values that Canada and Israel share. At that music festival, there was a great slaughter, a great butchering that we can’t even imagine in our wildest dreams. It was worse than Auschwitz, not in the amount, but in the cruelty. The whole world should know about this.
TS: The Prime Minister-elect of the Netherlands said there is now not a clash between civilizations, but between civilization and barbarism. We get the impression Western Europe, and the United States, are staying with Israel longer than at any previous Gaza encounter. Do you think Western Europe and the U.S. are getting it?
Ohad: I really hope so. I agree with you that this is what is going on. I hope they understand, the sooner the better. It’s a matter of time before the whole world faces this great threat.
TS: We know this is difficult to answer, but tell us about the last conversation with Tiferet on the phone, while she was hiding in the bushes.
Rashit: She just wanted to speak with my mom. I think it was kind of a goodbye, she didn’t want to freak her out. She said,” I love you.” For 10 days, we didn’t know what happened to her.
TS: What indications did the family have that maybe she was taken hostage?
Harel: The signal of Tiferet’s phone was in Gaza. It’s not enough that they killed, did those horrible things, they even took the cell phones from the bodies. The cruelty was not enough, they took what they could. Unbelievable! This was planned. They knew who was going to shoot, who was going to rape, who was going to kill. As far as we know, they were trained on dolls, animals for them to be able to do those horrible things. But the most horrific thing was to see the Gazan civilians cheering, clapping when they took the hostages, beating them.
TS: When the fences were broken, Gazan civilians came in. There’s video of Gazan civilians beheading dead Israeli soldiers and doing other horrific things.
Harel: During World War II, many people in Western and Eastern Europe risked their lives [to save Jews]. In the streets of Gaza, nobody stopped them, not one human being was there to stop them. Those animals standing in the street, clapping, happy, throwing candies, when a human being, young girls, were taken. Not even one soul stopped them!
TS: Tiferet would volunteer, would teach in underprivileged areas as we understand.
Harel: At the same time Tiferet volunteered for kids in South Africa, she didn’t ask if they were Jews, Muslims or Christians, most of them were Muslims and Christians. None were Jews. but kids are kids. If a kid needs help, we’re going to help them. At the same time she was volunteering for kids, those animals were teaching their soldiers how to murder kids, how to butcher them. That’s the most unbearable thing to think about. The values we share are so different than the values they share.
TS: Maybe this horrible incident will wake up a generation to understand there is total evil.
Harel: We were taught that Auschwitz was another planet. It wasn’t. Oct. 7 was one day of Auschwitz.
TS: As a mother, what is your gut feeling, no filter, and what do you want people to know?
Sarit: (after a long pause to gather her emotions): (translated from Hebrew) Almost every minute, every hour, I was waiting for the phone to ring. Tiferet’s friends said beautiful things about her, about her great soul, the light that came from her and how people are talking about her. I always knew Tiferet had a big soul for the world, and that she was going to do and create great things for the whole world. Tiferet encouraged her friends, made them feel happier and brighter, and if their hearts were broken, she told them how to cure their hearts.
TS: She believed people could be brought together if one person is good? After something like this, do you think the world has learned that perhaps people can’t be brought together until both sides respect each other? Can you maintain the same level of tikvah (hope) she had about people relating to each other?
Sarit: (translated from Hebrew): I think the world does not understand what we went through, because after such a horrific day, and days, people are not gathering and hugging. Instead, they criticize. How can you criticize light and say something about darkness that is good?
Harel: It’s like cheering for the Nazis and criticizing the Allies in World War II, when the evil in the world is so dark and you can see it [right in front of you].
TS: Do you think more of the world is getting it than before? We have to ask that question. How has this affected the six siblings?
Rashit: Each of us feels differently. I lost both my sister and my best friend. My youngest brother lost his funny big sister. She had a special connection with each one of us.
TS: How do you react to the opinion that the music festival, criticized by some for being held on Shabbat, basically stopped what was planned to be a much bigger attack? Does it give you any comfort?
Ohad: I think Jewish people have a great message to the world….We are hunted generation after generation due to the fact that the war with Hamas is not about occupied territory in Gaza. It’s about the fight between the bad and the good, and now it’s our turn in history to be part of this great thing we bring to the world. Now we paid the price, but there’s no doubt that the new chapter of the history of Israel is now written. Part of the history of Israel is going to be written in Tiferet’s blood.
Harel: Professor Irwin Cotler told us that when it starts with the Jews, it never ends with the Jews. The world has to understand that. He also told us, 2023 is not and never will be 1943. The people of Israel are strong and will do whatever it should do to bring a peaceful end and demolish those Nazis, ISIS, Hamas, period.