Welcome to The Times of Israel's Daily Briefing, your 20-minute audio update on what's happening in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world.

Today, for the Sukkot holiday, we are bringing you a special extended episode from our partner podcast, Israel Story.

Israel Story writes:

This is an episode we never wanted to air. One that marks a year of war and a year of pain. A year since a day of ghastly violence, which led us into a nightmare that still has no end in sight.

A year has passed, but the trauma is still fresh. With all that has gone on since October 7, 2023, we haven’t really had time, or opportunity, to pause. So our commemorative episode today is an attempt to step back and reflect. It’s not a news hour, and doesn’t follow the roller-coaster of events we’ve experienced since October 7th. Instead, it’s a collage of the dozens and dozens of people we’ve heard from throughout the year, alongside others whose episodes haven't aired yet.

It will, we hope, offer an emotional journey, and paint a picture of what it has been like to be here this year.

May the year ahead be a quieter and calmer one. A year with less pain and suffering and more peace and hope. May the hostages return home, and may we all know better days to come. Amen.

The end song is B'Shana Haba'ah ("In the Next Year") by Shiri Maimon. (Licensed by Israel Story through Acum.)

Produced in partnership with The Times of Israel.

Subscribe to Israel Story on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

For news updates, please check out The Times of Israel’s ongoing live blog.

Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by the Pod-Waves.