“The more cactus spines they grow, the happier they become…”
These words appear in a news article from 1976, describing a loving couple – Oded and Yocheved (Yochkeh) Lifshitz, of Kibbutz Nir Oz. The article, written in Hebrew by Moshe Naim and published in Al HaMishmar, is dedicated to the couple’s beautiful yet prickly endeavor. Yochkeh herself provided the photos for the piece.
Oded was raised in the northern Israeli city of Haifa. As a young man, he moved south to Nir Oz, just a mile and a half from the Gaza border, with a Nahal settlement group. The IDF’s Nahal program at the time combined military service with agriculture and community building. Oded’s father, a Polish native, lost his entire family in the Holocaust, and his son was determined to preserve the family name as a connection to his heritage. Oded’s mother was a distinguished educator who helped found a number of schools and greatly influenced him.
Yocheved came from the town of Rishon LeZion, the second daughter of Polish immigrants. During the 1940s, her family frequently hosted Holocaust survivors and newly-arrived Jewish immigrants in their home. In third grade, she joined the Hashomer Hatzair youth movement where a young instructor from Kibbutz Nirim offered to change her name to Yochkeh—“and ever since, that’s been my name,” she recalled.
During high school, Yochkeh had a few relationships, but the last and most meaningful was with Oded, “who patiently waited an entire year for me to part ways with my previous boyfriend.” They married in 1958 when she was 20.
The Lifshitz couple’s extensive garden began with some plants donated by Oded’s sister, who grew them at their home in Haifa. When he moved south to settle the Negev region, he brought a few potted plants with him. In the kibbutz, he met Yochkeh, and together they fell in love, built a home, and raised four children. For over 60 years, they nurtured their love for each other, their family, and the flourishing garden they created. Like the cacti they grew, Oded and Yocheved were toughened by years of arduous labor in the southern heat, but on the inside, they were soft and warm toward their own community and loved ones.
Initially, Oded planted the cacti he had brought from Haifa and later grew more of them on the grounds of the newly established Nahal outpost at Nir Oz. Two years after meeting, the couple married, and Yochkeh became a full partner in his prickly passion. “It developed randomly,” Oded shared. “Gradually. I never planned to grow cacti for 60 years.”
When asked what maintaining such an impressive garden requires, Oded replied, “Diligence and perseverance.” Maintenance included pruning and weeding. “There are times when you invest less, like in winter, but it’s crucial not to let things deteriorate,” he explained in Al HaMishmar.
Tending such a thorny garden was not without risk. “Once, during a routine walk, I stumbled and, unfortunately, landed right on a particularly spiky cactus. It left me a keepsake—a thorn that pierced through my finger and came out the other side,” Oded recounted. In his attempts to remove it, the thorn broke, forcing him to visit the hospital, where surgeons extracted the stubborn thorn that had reached the bone, much to their amazement.
Yochkeh, meticulous in her descriptions, noted that their garden housed hundreds of cacti, succulents, and euphorbias, sprawling over more than a dunam (over 900 square meters). It became a true gem. The couple also incorporated “stones and pillars from the Byzantine period, commonly found in the kibbutz fields, adding a special touch to the garden,” as the article describes. Their shared passion for these resilient plants led to rapid growth and beauty.
A crucial figure in their garden’s early days was Ran Pauker, then head of landscaping for the kibbutz. He installed an efficient and structured irrigation system for them. Speaking with us, Pauker recalled that when the Lifshitz family had to relocate within the kibbutz, they ensured their new home remained close to their beloved cacti — “so they wouldn’t have to move all the plants. It had become an attraction.” Over the years, the garden grew into a remarkable landmark, drawing visitors from near and far. “But you wouldn’t want to live in it,” Pauker added with a smile.
***
Oded and Yochkeh raised three sons and a daughter together, with nature being a major part of their lives—not only through their magnificent garden but also the many hiking trips they took across the country, always camping outdoors, in tents. Yochkeh recalled that her most memorable experience was a trip abroad to Alaska.
Once their children had grown up and left home, they focused on their love for each other: “Now that the children have left, it’s just the two of us. I prepare a hot meal for Oded and myself when he returns from work. There’s nothing left but to take care of each other.”
***
On October 7, 2023, in the brutal attack on Nir Oz, both Oded and Yocheved were kidnapped from their home, which was set ablaze. Yocheved Lifshitz was released after two and a half weeks in captivity, but 84-year-old Oded remains in Hamas’ hands. As of this writing, nearly 500 days have passed, and there is grave concern for his life.
What survived that terrible day is their magnificent cactus garden, a testament to their shared love. Today, their children, grandchildren, and volunteers help maintain it as part of the kibbutz’s landscaping efforts.
In honor of Tu B’Shvat and Valentine’s Day, let this be an opportunity to renew the call for the swift release of all the hostages.
This journalistic gem from nearly 50 years ago was brought to our attention by our dedicated reader, Yossi Pikarek. It is preserved, along with other Israeli and Diaspora newspapers, in the National Library of Israel’s Historical Jewish Press Collection.
We also relied on the book This Same Love: A Tribute to the Veterans of Nir Oz on the Occasion of the 60th Anniversary [Hebrew] and a video courtesy of the Eshkol Regional Council.
