There’s a remarkable family from the Gaza Envelope whose lifestyle of generosity has generated blessing that will continue long after their deaths. The entire Kutz family were murdered on October 7, 2023, just as they were gearing up to celebrate Simchat Torah in their own unique style.
“The father started a tradition that every Simchat Torah, they made a celebration of kites and everyone was ready for it,” explained Orit Kashtan, who works with ONE FOR ISRAEL. “It’s beautiful and there’s a meaning,” she said, as even before October 7 the kites were dedicated to soldiers who fell, those kidnapped, and also carrying messages of freedom and peace for their Palestinian neighbors in Gaza. “He used to say, ‘They are sending rockets towards us, and we are sending kites.'”
Those from the kibbutz in the Gaza Envelope would gather each year to fly kites with messages of freedom and peace for their Palestinian neighbors in Gaza following the encouragement of the Kutz family.
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But on the morning of Simchat Torah, the unimaginable happened instead. The bodies of Aviv (54), Livnat (49), Rotem (19), Yonatan (17), and Yiftach (15) were all found together in bed at their home in Kfar Aza, with Aviv, the father, embracing his family.
They were all murdered by Hamas right before Livnat’s 50th birthday. The family were well known throughout the Gaza Envelope for their kind hearts, extreme generosity, and creative initiatives for others. For her 50th birthday Livnat requested that no one should give her any gifts but rather to video themselves doing something kind for others. Even though she never saw her birthday, many responded to her request. In this way she left a trail of good deeds in her wake.
More than that, the impact of their kindness was so profound that it prompted people to rally together to do something big, that would last for many years to come. And ONE FOR ISRAEL donors, like you, are part of it.
Aviv and Livnat’s two sons, Yonatan and Yiftach, were talented basketball players who played in the Hapoel youth program and dreamed of playing professionally. They were enrolled at Kfar Hayarok boarding school in Ramat Hasharon as a way of maximizing their sports training. Now those wanting to give towards their legacy, together with funds given to ONE FOR ISRAEL, have provided a brand new basketball court at the school in the name of the Kutz brothers on the condition that a fund would be set aside for sports scholarships amounting to ₪100,000 a year for talented children who cannot afford the school fees.
“The basketball court that they are having built will be used to help children like the two brothers, who are talented enough to train in a sports academy,” explains Orit. In this way, the gifts given in memory of the Kutz family will go on to bless many more children into the future.
“They were all amazing kids with huge hearts. They had their whole lives ahead of them,” their aunt Adi Levy Salama said according to the Times of Israel. “On the day they were murdered, we were supposed to visit them. Aviv organized an annual kite festival along the fence with Gaza to show them that we just want to live in peace,” she said.
- https://www.timesofisrael.com/kutz-family-father-mother-and-three-teens-die-in-embrace/
Picture by Simona Sergi on Unsplash
