In Mineola, law firm assists organization preserving Oct. 7 testimonies

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Itay Ken-Tor, a filmmaker from Israel, was on Long Island earlier this week to talk about Edut 710, an organization collecting the testimonies of survivors of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks in Israel. Ken-Tor, a co-founder of the organization, was visiting Mineola-based law firm Meltzer, Lippe, Goldstein & Breitstone, which is assisting Edut 710, pro bono, with the formation of its U.S. charitable affiliate.

Edut, Ken-Tor told LIBN, is the Hebrew word for testimony.

“Our main goal is to take as many testimonies as possible,” Ken-Tor said. “But other than that, it is to get people to see the testimony.”

Ken-Tor began working with Meltzer Lippe through a mutual connection.

Meltzer Lippe partner Avi  Kestenbaum said the firm was given an opportunity to “make a difference in this world. Very often a catastrophic event happens somewhere in the world, and we feel badly. We don’t know what to do. There’s despair, and then every once in a while we are presented an opportunity to actually do something about it. Obviously there are a lot of people who don’t wait to get the opportunity. They go out and they seize the moment.”

The founders of Edut 710 went and “seized the moment here and tried to do whatever they could to help their country,” Kestenbaum told an audience who had gathered at the firm to learn about Edut 710.

Many foreign charitable organizations need a U.S. charitable arm. It’s helpful for tax purposes, to get the word out and for other reasons, Kestenbaum said. The firm’s leadership agreed to provide pro bono support, and the team members have also joined the effort.

In collecting testimony, Edut 710 uses the approach of the late Dori Laub, Yale University psychiatrist, trauma expert and a Holocaust survivor, who is considered a pioneer in collecting video testimony of other survivors, and those who experienced trauma. Laub co-founded the Fortunoff Yale Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies. Unlike the testimonies of Holocaust survivors, this material recorded for Edut 710 is recent. The platform is easily searchable, and designed to make the content widely accessible. Working with Microsoft, the platform can be used anywhere in the world to curate events.

Ken-Tor, who was a distance away from the Oct. 7 attacks, and by Oct. 9, he and other cofounders established Edut 710.

The organization is made up of 400 volunteers that include interviewers,  video and content editors, academics, mental health experts and more.  Already they have filmed more than 1,200 personal testimonies. The protocol for filming is to listen without interrupting, following up after to get the witnesses approval to include the testimony.

With this digital archive, there are short versions as well longer versions of the same testimony, for those conducting research. In this way, the organization aims to foster both personal and communal healing, and safeguard against misinformation. The platform includes a mapping feature, to pinpoint testimonies by location. Testimony is also available in multiple languages. The organization has partners that include Microsoft, Gig Capital, the National Library of Israel, and others.

While the organization is setting up the U.S. charitable arm, it is accepting donations through a crowdfunding source.

“I won’t say it’s easy,” Ken-Tor said of creating the testimonies. “Even though you think it doesn’t touch you it does. Personally I would say it’s a most difficult privilege, especially nowadays to let people tell their story without interference.”