Ready to fight, says 78-year-old Israeli Jew of Indian descent who lost grandson in Hamas attack

Oren’s family was part of the Jewish diaspora in Kerala’s Kochi. In 1954, when he was eight, the family returned to Israel along with many other Jewish families in the wake of the formation of Israel in 1948.

Oren, his wife Simha, and their family are currently mourning the death of their grandson Amit Most who was in the third year of his compulsory military training. Amit was the son of Oren’s daughter Habit. “On Saturday, he was spending the Sabbath with friends when he got a call from his commander that a few colleagues were injured. He rushed to the spot and ensured first aid for them. Amit was hit by Hamas firing when he was about to attend another call for aid,” Oren adds.

Yossi Oren with his wife.

He says that on Saturday as soon as the Hamas attack was reported, he started enquiring about his grandson. “My daughter Habit told me that he was okay. After Sabbath, nothing was heard about him. We spent a worried Sunday. On Monday, the military informed us the tragic news. We waited for his body. It was on Wednesday evening that they came with his body.”

Amit had joined the military service after completing high school. His brother Yaron had only recently completed Army service and is now pursuing a degree, while their sister Mical is in school.

Oren, whose parents David and Fenina lived in Kochi, still has memories of his days in Kerala. Both parents hailed from Jewish families settled in Kochi and nearby areas back then. “My father had been a fish trader. I lost my mother when I was three and a half years old and my younger brother was five months old. She was buried in Kochi – at Kaloor, as far as I remember. So I cannot forget India, where my forefathers lived, where I was born and my mother rests in peace. Besides, my wife Simha’s family also hailed from the Kochi Jewish community,” he says.

Oren had studied at a school in Kochi till Class 2. After completing military training, he did a degree course in agriculture before becoming an entrepreneur focusing on farming and poultry.

In 2002, he visited Kochi and nearby areas where Jews had lived earlier. “There were 16 of us, comprising my five children and their families. I still look forward to a visit to Kochi,” he says.