ICJA Welcomes Yair Agmon Oriya Mevorach, authors of “One Day in October”

This morning, students welcomed Israeli television personality and producer Yair Agmon Oriya Mevorach, Editorial Director of Maggid Books at Koren Publishers, and heard about their bestselling book, One Day in October: Forty Heroes, Forty Stories. The two authors described the genesis of the book, in the immediate aftermath of Hamas’ October 7, 2023 terror attack. Mr. Agmon recalled refusing to work on this project again and again, saying that he was too upset to do anything other than mourn. Within days, however, as he heard stories of heroes who saved others during the attack, he began to change his mind. Uncovering the heroism of others helped him make sense of the tragedy, he recalled.

Mr. Agmon and Ms. Mevorach told students that they discovered instances of unity among the Jewish people while researching this book and pointed to themselves as an example of how different Jews can come together. Ms. Mevorach lives in the Gush and is religious, while Mr. Agmon resides in Tel Aviv and considers himself secular. Yet both recognize their shared peoplehood and want readers of their book to understand this as well.

They also explained how they selected and interviewed the heroes featured in the book, and reminded students that “heroes live among us today.” Both talked about and read excerpts from the work. Ms. Mevorach told students, “When I read this book, I felt so proud to be part of this (Jewish) people.” Students heard excerpts of incredible heroism and ways that seemingly ordinary people rose to greatness as they worked to shield others from attack.

After the assembly, Ms. Mevorach visited a combined class of students in Mrs. Moria Kohanchi’s, Ms. Eliora Lavi’s, and Mrs. Shira Jacobs’s Hebrew classes. Students read the Hebrew-language version of her book’s chapter about Daniel Sharabi, whose heroic actions saved many people on October 7, 2023. Students took turns translating passages from the book. Ms. Mevorach rewarded students who correctly translated different passages with chocolates and other candies.

Thank you to all the ICJA students, staff, and administration, as well as our visitors, for making today’s visit so meaningful.