Here Lived
Yoram Adar z”l and Pessia Adar Pauker lived happily in this home. This was their home for forty years, where they raised their five children and saw their family grow, with fifteen grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. Yoram and Pessia, a retired couple in their 80’s, lived a full and meaningful life in their community.
October 7th
On October 7, 2023, Yoram and Pessia were at home. When the sirens began, they went into their safe room, assuming this was yet another round of escalation. But when they momentarily left the safe room, they saw armed terrorists outside their kitchen window, speaking Arabic. Shortly after, they heard the terrorists break into the house, ransacking and looting it, while expressing a manic delight in all the destruction. The terrorists shut off the electricity and water but apparently thought that the house was empty and didn’t try to break into the safe room.
After stealing whatever they could, the terrorists set the house on fire. Smoke penetrated the safe room and Yoram, who suffered from lung disease, started to choke. By 11:30 a.m., Yoram had no choice but to leave the safe room, making his way into the burning house with Pessia right behind him. They found a corner of the house that the flames hadn’t reached and hid there. Without his inhalers, which had been destroyed in the fire with the rest of their belongings, Yoram’s condition continued to deteriorate, and he began to lose consciousness.
At 4:30 p.m., Yoram and Pessia were rescued by the IDF forces. Yoram was in serious condition, but he survived. Soon afterward, they learned that their oldest grandchild, Tamir, had been kidnapped and that their grandchild Sivan, who had been in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, had been seriously injured and was hospitalized at the Sheba Medical Center.
What Happened Since
Yoram was hospitalized for a week at the Soroka Medical Center with burns and severe respiratory injuries. After his release, they joined the other evacuees from Nir Oz at a hotel in Eilat and later moved with them as a community to an apartment building in Karme Gat.
Later, they received devastating news: Tamir, who was kidnapped, had been critically wounded on October 7 and murdered by Hamas.
Despite their pain and grief, Yoram and Pessia have chosen life. Yoram passed away at the age of 90, not before he got to see his beloved grandson, Tamir, brought to his final resting place in the land of Nir Oz which he so dearly worshiped. Yoram was buried next to Tamir. Pessia is due to return to live in Nir Oz, in the new house that will be built for them, thereby fulfilling Yoram’s last wish – to see Nir Oz rebuilt.
