Two years after Captain Shilo Rauchberger fell on October 7, 2023, his family lives hour by hour. Through OneFamily, they’ve found a national embrace that holds them upright when they fall, reminding them they’re never alone.

“Our son, our very own son, fell in a battle that belonged to everyone. Through OneFamily, the entire people of Israel have wrapped us in an embrace so big, so full of love”.

These are the words of Nirit Rauchberger, mother of Captain Shilo Rauchberger, who fell in a heroic battle on October 7th, 2023. But for his family, the battle didn’t end that day. The struggle continues – quietly, relentlessly – every single day.

The first time Nirit and her family attended a OneFamily retreat, she felt like a stranger. “At first, I felt like a stranger. It was our first time joining a OneFamily retreat. I sat on the bus and felt completely out of place”, she recalls.

Then she remembered a story – one that gave voice to what she was feeling, right when she needed it most.

Before he fell, Shilo had been a counselor with OneFamily for years, mentoring young campers. After Shilo fell, the Rauchbergers came to OneFamily to meet the campers he had mentored. Each one shared a moment, a memory, their connection with him.

One of them told how Shilo had come to his house before camp. Later, on the way to camp, he sat on the bus thinking, What am I doing here? I don’t belong. He felt such resistance to being part of it all. But when he stepped off the bus, Shilo was there waiting – and everything changed.

“I didn’t have Shilo waiting for me”, Nirit recalls. “But that story stayed with me. It gave voice to what I was feeling, right when I needed it most”.

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Now, two years have passed since Captain Shilo Rauchberger fell in a heroic battle on October 7. But for his family, the battle didn’t end that day. The struggle continues, quietly, every single day.

“You don’t really live through two years”, says his mother, Nirit, softly. “You live through an hour, and then another, and then another day”.

Their casualty officer is also a bereaved father, and when he came to them, it had been six years for him. “I remember getting stuck on those six years – I just couldn’t move with time”, Nirit shares.

“There are always new realizations, new discoveries – another notebook, another message, something else that surfaces. We keep finding out more about who he was. How deeply he took life to heart, how seriously he lived it, and at the same time, how full of optimism, joy, and laughter he was. Time moves forward-we grow, the family expands, life goes on – but the emptiness stays. Each of the kids carries it differently, but the loss is always there. Even his place at the table remains, untouched”.

The Rauchberger family’s first encounter with OneFamily was from the giving side – when Shilo spent years volunteering as a counselor for one of their youth groups. After he fell, they suddenly found themselves on the other side, in the place no one ever wants to be: part of the bereaved family.

“I remember the first time the girls went to a OneFamily camp. They left on Thursday and were gone through Shabbat – and for us, it was the first time we spent Shabbat alone. It was also the first time in months that we had a moment just for ourselves, a moment to simply hold it all”, Nirit explains.

“I wrote to Mindy, who accompanies us, and told her she couldn’t imagine what a gift that was for us. The girls were so happy; they had such a wonderful time. They hardly called, and as a parent, you can just feel it – you know when your child is doing well, and you can finally breathe. That time was like oxygen for us, something we so desperately needed”.

Through OneFamily, the Rauchbergers feel something profound: they are not alone. “You can feel, through OneFamily, that this is something that belongs to the entire people of Israel – that you’re not alone. In the end, our son fell in a battle that belonged to everyone, and I feel as though the organization is giving us, on behalf of the entire nation, the warmest, biggest embrace.”

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“What’s so special about OneFamily is their deep understanding of all the circles involved. We haven’t used everything they offer, and not all of our children take part – but the option is always there, gently and sensitively offered. The people there truly care. It’s like they’re saying, ‘We miss you,’ ‘Why didn’t you come to camp?’ The feeling is almost like a regular, fun summer camp – just with so much more heart poured into it”.

“I feel that there’s something so healthy there, so resilient – like we’re all walking this road together. And if at some point you need a bit of support – that’s fine. If you need more time – that’s fine too. They touch the pain, but they don’t let it swallow you. It’s a space that honors you. You know you have a place, someone who listens, someone who knows how to hold you if you fall. There’s a constant flow of ideas, guidance, and care, always tailored to what you need”.

“In the end, it’s yours, right? You go to sleep with it at night, wake up with it in the morning, make your choices and live your life with it. But when you have no strength left, every small thing becomes oxygen. And with OneFamily, you feel – they’re there, all the time”.

How Does the Support Actually Take Shape?

“The organization looks at the pain from every angle – 360 degrees – seeing all the layers of complexity: the couple, the family, the little ones, the grown ones. They embrace every age group. Before every camp, they ask what each person needs – the older sibling, the one who’s struggling more, and the one who’s managing a bit better. You simply have a home. Because in the end, the pain is so immense that sometimes, when someone comes and offers you a glass of water, even that small act feels impossible to do yourself. And the organization is there, not letting us fall”.

“Take the Shabbat before Yom HaZikaron, Israel’s Memorial Day. In theory, we could have packed up and gone somewhere. But who has the head or the strength for that? And here, they do it for us. It’s such a special Shabbat – a gathering of people who understand each other, a space for sharing and being together”.

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“I feel that, in the end, our story is one of strength and deep meaning. It’s like climbing up the mountain to our personal Akedah – but afterward, you have to come down. You walk with purpose and height, but then comes daily life. Every morning, you get up and carry the longing, Shabbat after Shabbat, Memorial Day after Memorial Day – this exhausting, endless weight. Just knowing there’s someone out there, someone present, is enough to give you strength, even if you never reach out for it. That’s incredibly powerful”.

“In the past two years, we’ve faced a painful and enormous challenge – thousands of families who have lost their loved ones, whose worlds have been turned upside down”, says Moshe Saville, the organization’s CEO. “We understood that this was our moment. We took the experience we’ve gained over the years and expanded every part of our operation to reach every family. Since October 7, we’ve been working non-stop, across all sectors – and sadly, there are so many.

The people of Israel have joined in this embrace, helping us open more camps and retreats, add mentors, emotional support, and assistance around the holidays. We understand from the families that for them, this means everything. And we’re doing everything we can to make sure no family ever feels, even for a moment, that they’re alone in their loss. This is our responsibility, as a people”.

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