Chabad at Penn hosts IDF soldiers to discuss Oct. 7 Hamas attack

Chabad at Penn hosted two Israel Defense Forces soldiers who witnessed the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel on Tuesday.

The Jan. 21 event — titled "Courage & Sacrifice" — featured IDF combat medic Saar Arie and IDF observer Maya Desiatnik. Arie served as a first sergeant in the Givati brigade, one of five infantry brigades of the IDF, while Desiatnik was a sergeant in the Border Protection Force. The speaker series was brought to campus by Belev Echad, a nonprofit "dedicated to restoring the wounded men and women of the IDF back to life."

At the Nahal Oz military base — which is located near the border of Gaza — Desiatnik acted as a lookout, monitoring the Israel-Gaza border. She described being on shift in the war room when the attack started on the morning of Oct. 7.

“Then [people] started crossing," Desiatnik said. "It was a nightmare seeing so many running towards the fence, towards the border. We saw how it rained with bombs. … I was so scared, because we were so close to the border.” 

Desiatnik said that she hid for six hours in the war room office as the attack occurred. Seven people were later rescued from the war room, and Desiatnik was the only observer. Desiatnik explained that 15 observers were killed during the attack and seven were kidnapped. Currently, five are still in captivity. 

“Maybe there’s hope that this week some of them will be released," Desiatnik said of the captives. "I’m trying to be optimistic because maybe it's finally coming to an end. Even being injured, you have to keep living.” 

Arie was part of the team of medics deployed to treat those wounded during the attack. 

“We found a family pretty passed out, completely burned,” Arie said. “Hamas had burned the house while they were inside. We treated them with two other soldiers, and after five minutes of treating them, we had to evacuate. The chaos that day was indescribable.”

Arie explained that he was shot in the stomach while working. He entered recovery after receiving four surgeries in 10 days. After eight months of rehabilitation work, he joined Belev Echad. Desiatnik is also a member of the organization. 

Wharton and Engineering senior Noah Rubin attended the event and said that it was "super important" to hear Arie and Desiatnik’s stories.

"A lot of it was really hard to hear," Rubin said. "[Desiatnik’s] entire unit was either murdered on Oct. 7 or taken hostage, and we’re still fighting for them to be released. So I think that’s the main takeaway.” 

Chabad at Penn Director Nechama Haskelevich echoed Rubin’s sentiments about the impact of the event. 

“We’re really grateful to these people for coming to speak with us and sharing their stories,” Haskelevich said. “To think about what they went through is totally mind blowing, something we can’t relate to in any way. That’s why it’s important for them to come and share their experience with us.”