Ayelet Dickstein

Ayelet grew up without a place that felt like home.

After losing her parents and her younger brother, that sense of home shifted completely.
Not just physically, but in a way that stayed with her as she grew up.

Years later, she described it simply:

Like everyone else is tied to something — a place, a foundation —
and you’re not.
There’s no string.

But her story didn’t end there.

Through OneFamily, Ayelet became part of a close-knit group of young adults who had grown up with that same reality —
children who, like her, had lost both parents.

It wasn’t something that happened once.
It was something she returned to, multiple times a year.

As siblings, they had lost the chance to grow up the way most families do —
shared trips, time away together, the small traditions that hold a family close.

Through OneFamily, they were given pieces of that back.

They met throughout the year —
and even had the chance to travel together outside of Israel.

Siblings, alongside others who understood their story without explanation.

Seeing the same faces again and again.
Getting to know people who understood her.

It wasn’t the same —
but it gave them something to build together again.

And slowly, that sense of belonging grew.

Not because the past changed —
but because she wasn’t facing it alone anymore.

That’s where she met Avigdor.

He had grown up with the same kind of loss.
The same understanding of what it means to move forward without the foundation most people rely on.

Their connection came from that place.

And from there, something new began.

They built a relationship.
They got married.
And began creating a home of their own.

Not replacing what was lost —
but building something that is fully their own.

For Ayelet, OneFamily wasn’t only there in the aftermath.

It became part of how her life moved forward —
a place that helped keep her and her siblings connected,
and where, over time, she was able to move forward.

Hope doesn’t always come all at once.

Sometimes, it’s built slowly —
through connection, through people who stayed in her life,
through the courage to keep going.

And in time, Ayelet built a life of her own.