Hamas militants destroyed the kibbutz; these SoCal residents mourn and help rebuild
Armed security guards dressed in black scanned the invitation list before waving each guest inside.
They kept a sharp eye out for trouble as they milled about the crowd of more than 130 — gathered not at an embassy or government compound but in the backyard of a stately home in Southern California.
Some of the men who had been invited to the Thursday evening event wore yarmulkes. One young woman wore a scarf patterned with the Star of David.
These were not public officials being guarded, but worried members of the Jewish community. They were gathered in this neighborhood to help raise funds to rebuild the Kfar Aza kibbutz, a communal village where around 60 people were killed in the Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel by Hamas militants.
An additional 18 people, including seven children, were kidnapped from the kibbutz, according to residents.
The attack unfolded some 7,500 miles away. More than 1,400 Israelis were killed and more than 200 kidnapped, according to Israeli
