“Their lives stopped [on October 7] and now they are nothing except trying to make a difference”, explains Orly Peli-Bronshtein, editor of a cookbook recently published by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum to raise awareness of the hostages still held in Gaza.

Peli-Bronshtein is a food writer and one of Israel’s leading food editors. Like most Israelis, she lost friends in the attacks. Her friends the Zohar family — Yaniv, Yasmin, Tehelet and Keshet — were murdered, orphaning their son, 12-year-old Ariel — who escaped the massacre having gone running that morning.

Like most of her countrymen she needed to do something to help. So when she was approached by Foody Israel, to edit Shavuot of Longing: Their Recipes on Our Table she didn’t need to think twice. The book is a collection of favourite recipes picked by the families of those still held as hostages in Gaza, or those who have lost their lives in the war.

Since the war started, she had also edited Cooking Together, 30 recipes highlighting various products grown in the Western Negev. That book (like this one) was produced by Israel’s Food Network, Foody Israel, but that project was with Kibbutz Be’eri to raise funds to help to restore Be’eri’s agricultural sector and ensure that agricultural workers could return to work.

“Most of Israeli agriculture is in this area near the Gaza strip, and with so many kidnapped or murdered in the attacks, there just weren’t enough workers.”

Like many others at that point, she was volunteering on the land. “Nature doesn’t wait, and the fields needed tending. I went for a month to pick cherry tomatoes and then all kinds of greens. We all tried to do our best to keep everything moving — to make sure that there were fresh vegetables available for the whole country as most of the fresh produce comes from this region.”

And then she became involved with the cookbook projects. Both books have been printed at Kibbutz Be’eri, where their printing house is the main source of income for the kibbutzim. Despite at least 85 of the kibbutz’s inhabitants being murdered in the attacks, the printing operation was undamaged.

“Everyone has been going to Be’eri [for printing] since the war started” says Orly “They have been overwhelmed with work.”

The Hebrew version of Cooking Together sold 100,000 copies in record time and an English-language version was added in March of this year. Shavuot of Longing has already sold more than 45,000 copies in Hebrew and another 20,000 plus in English.

Orly produced this collection of 75 recipes in two months — lightning speed for a cookbook — and admits it was exhausting, not least because of the emotional nature of what she was doing. “I was acutely aware of how upsetting and sensitive it was for all the families.”

The decision to limit the recipes to 75 was symbolic. “The State of Israel turned 76 this year, but we could not celebrate that anniversary so we stopped at 75.”

Asked why, while most of the recipes begin with a paragraph about the hostage or victim being remembered by their favourite food, several have no person connected with them.

“Some families found out while I was compiling the recipes that they’d lost their relative and could not bear to be associated with the project any more. A few wanted nothing to do with Israel — they are so angry and feel like leaving. Others felt that being involved with the book and the publicity may in some way bring bad luck, so they withdrew. I’ve been yelled at and didn’t know how to reply — what could I say?”

It was too late to remove the recipes entirely, so they remain. With that knowledge, the omission is almost more heartbreaking. She admits she has found the process exhausting and that there were, for her, many sleepless nights.

She shares stories about some of those remembered in the book. Ohad Ben Ami was kidnapped with his wife, Raz from Kibbutz Be’eri. One of their daughters, Ela, was also at the Kibbutz but survived the attacks. Raz, who suffers from tumours on her brain was released after 54 days. Ohad remains a hostage.

“Ohad loved his daughter, Ela’s cooking and she had talked about that when interviewed at Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square. She told of how much she missed him and how he would probably be missing her challot and her cookies. She remembered how he would want to break open the challah on Yom Shishi (Shabbat) while it was still warm and would say she was killing him with the gorgeous smells. He could not wait to eat it.” The book includes her recipe for pistachio-filled Amsterdam cookies — another of her bakes that her father loved.

There are, of course, several variations of cheesecake. “Omer Wenkert loved this cloud cheesecake that they served at Sheini restaurant in Tel Aviv. We asked for the recipe and they were happy to share it with us. It’s not a regular cheesecake more like a Japanese cloud cake in texture — really different.”

Some of the recipes are less linked to Shavuot’s dairy heavy menu. Danielle Gilboa is a soldier from Nahal Oz who was taken hostage. Her family could not decide which recipe was right for her. “They were going to go for a salad but at the last minute, chose Moroccan biscuits. They are not really connected to Shavuot but I felt I needed to include them as it was important to the Gilboas.”

Omert Wenkert adored Sheini's cloud cake Photo: Sheini restaurant

She explains that part of the money raised for the Hostages and Missing Families Forum will be directed towards funding the families of the hostages, who are flying around the world telling their story to raise awareness and keep the hostages in the news. “There are hundreds of people for whom life has stopped. They are not paid [by the State of Israel] and they cannot work while their loved ones are in captivity.”

She shares that life is bleak. Her nephew is due to get married next month (postponed from October) which would ordinarily be something to look forward to, but it is clouded by the worry that all their family, three of whom are miluim and serving in Gaza, will make it.

Her current project is a book for the Be’eri dairy, which makes artisan cheeses. “Its been intense and there’s no time to recover. I hope that one day soon we can reset and understand how the last eight months can have happened.”

To order a copy of the book visit: jgive

Since speaking to Orly, it has been confirmed that three of the hostages whose families shared recipes — Nadav Popplewell,Chaim Peri and Amiram Cooper — have been killed.