Family photos of Nave holding sister Reef; and their mother, Stav Geta, who was murdered by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7.
Editor’s Note: This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
With the Jewish world being interconnected, it is no surprise that members of the Jewish communities of the Deep South have been directly affected by the Hamas attacks from Gaza.
Shoval Yaakov, 27, was murdered on Oct. 7 at the Tribe of Nova two-day music festival. Held in an open area about three miles from Gaza, the festival was to celebrate “friends, love and infinite freedom.” About 260 of the 3,500 in attendance were killed by Hamas infiltrators.
Yaakov is the grandson of the sister of Birmingham’s Raymond Tobias. Yaakov was missing for four days, with his family unsure if he had been killed or taken hostage. His body was identified on Oct. 11.
He was the nephew of a nephew of the Tobiases who was killed in the Second Intifada. His mother, Meirav Yaakov, texted the Tobiases, saying “it is important to me that you tell your community that they broke our hearts but not our spirits, because the nation of Israel is alive!”
In New Orleans, Alex Cazabat and Orit Fragozo are mourning their cousin, Stav Geta, from Ashkelon. She was in the area of the music festival when the rockets started falling, and was trying to make it home to her children, five-year-old Nave and one-year-old Reef. Terrorists ambushed her and shot her car, injuring her and causing the car to flip on the side of the road.
A single mother, Geta was working toward becoming a lawyer, specializing in domestic abuse and the rights of single mothers. Her mother, Eti, is taking care of the now-orphaned grandchildren, while her brother was called up to the military.
A GoFundMe for the family has been set up by members of the New Orleans Jewish community.
Others in the region have family members involved in fighting. Birmingham’s Avi Goldstein was called back to active duty after being released from regular service last December, according to his mother, Jessica Goldstein.