Following Hezbollah Rocket That Left Them Homeless, Israeli Couple Marks Passover Holiday in RV

While 6,000 Israelis have been displaced by Iranian ballistic missiles and Hezbollah rockets the past month and could not celebrate Passover at home, there are those from the first round of conflict who have yet to return home. Amir and Osnat Melzer have not been able to celebrate Passover at their home in Metula, Israel’s most northern town, for the past couple years. The couple’s home was damaged by Hezbollah rocket fire in early 2024, when many northern Israeli communities had already been evacuated following devastating Hezbollah attacks from Lebanon that began on October 8, 2023. Around 20 percent of residents of Metula, Israel’s northernmost town on the Lebanon border, have not returned home since the ceasefire with Hezbollah in November 2024.The Meltzers have been living and travelling in a small gray RV ever since, as they wait for their damaged home to undergo renovations, interrupted now by the renewed conflict. In March, their neighborhood in Metula was hit once again by a Hezbollah rocket.“The carpenters just finished rebuilding our roof, but they’ve had to stop all the renovations since the war began” Amir Melzer told the New York Sun. “I’ve been afraid of Hezbollah for many years,” added Osnat Melzer, a certified nurse. “Even before the Hezbollah rocket damaged our home, I had this feeling that something might happen to our house.”The Melzer’s four children, all adults now, grew up with the noise of war, said their father. “The constant rocket fire and air raid sirens; it wasn’t always easy to raise a family in that kind of hostile environment,” said Amir Melzer, a lawyer by trade, who had law offices in Metula and Kiryat Shmona for many years. His son, Itamar, a professional ice hockey player who played for Israel’s national team, trained for many years in the Metula’s ice rink and later on, in Winnipeg, Canada. Following the rocket fire, the Melzers, who have lived in Metula since 1988, decided to downsize and adopt a minimalist way of living after their home was damaged by the rocket. The couple also owns a small hotel in Italy, where they also travel from time to time. “We lived in a huge home in Metula with a pool and everything we could possibly want, but now we live minimally and learned to appreciate a different way of life,” commented Melzer. “I’ve come to enjoy the nomadic lifestyle.” Melzer also closed down his law offices in Kiryat Shemona and in Metula. “Many of my clients are senior citizens who didn’t return home in the north once the government declared it was safe to do so in the last ceasefire,” said Melzer. “They just didn’t have the energy to start new lives or new jobs again.” Nearing 60, Melzer is an energetic man who still does reserve duty for the IDF. His soldier’s uniform and army weapon are in the RV next to an assortment of Russ teddy bears which his wife collects. They are currently based in southern Israel, close to Melzer’s army base. Osnat and their poodle, Teddy, enjoy the warmer weather of the Negev desert. Fixing the RV’s water tank during the interview, Melzer said he named the RV, Liberty, and has a picture of his father, a Holocaust survivor on the motor vehicle as well. “My late father, who survived the Holocaust, was a very important person in my life,” he said. “He’s part of our journey too.”The couple says that their experience of war as well as the anti-Israel rallies they witnessed during their travels in Europe, have strengthened their sense of Jewish identity and Israeli pride. “Osnat now lights the Shabbat candles every Friday,” said Amir proudly. “And I read every single word of the Haggadah on Passover this year.” “I think that everything that’s happened to us has brought us closer to Judaism, to our Jewish identity, looking for more answers in our heritage,” said Osnat. “This isn’t something you can force on someone. We’ve done a lot of travelling in the past three years, but it’s been a spiritual journey just as much as a physical one.”“Someday, I hope we can celebrate Passover in Metula with our whole family, along a peaceful border,” concluded Amir.

Following Hezbollah Rocket That Left Them Homeless, Israeli Couple Marks Passover Holiday in RV

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