Tami Suchman
Tami was born on Kibbutz Kedma, the eldest child of Abba and Leah Barmak. Her birth came just two months after her parents had participated in the “11 Points” initiative, a settlement campaign that was aimed at establishing new communities in the northern Negev and carried out the night after Yom Kippur of 1946. Through their involvement, her parents became founding members of Kibbutz Kedma – one of the 11 settlements established that night. Tami arrived in the world at the end of January 1947, mere months before Israel's Declaration of Independence. Two years later, the family welcomed her baby brother, Udi. Losing her mother, Leah, at the age of 5, Tami raised Udi as if he were her son, and the two developed a tight and special bond. Shortly after Leah’s death, Tami’s father, Abba, married Hannah, with whom he had three children – Ada, and the twins, Vered and Nitzan.
In 1962, after Kibbutz Kedma was abandoned, the family of seven settled in Be’eri. As a member of the second class of Be’eri youth (“Kitat Shalhevet”), Tami emerged as an energetic, spirited and almost unruly teen, who instead of toeing the line somersaulted over it…
In 1968, just over 20 and pregnant, she married 22-year-old Tzvi Suchman, who had joined the kibbutz as a "yeled hutz" (a child who came to the kibbutz from the city or elsewhere) and became a member of the first class of Be’eri youth (“Kitat Eshel”). The joint wedding, along with another couple who married that day, was held in Be’eri. They named their firstborn daughter Ella, and a year and a half later, her younger brother Gidi was born. Soon thereafter they welcomed their son Ben, today the CEO of the famous Be’eri printing house. Twenty years after the wedding, Tami was pregnant again, giving birth to their youngest daughter, Gal.
The Suchmans eventually divorced. Tami wasn’t known to be a particularly strict mother, often remarking to her children, “You brought yourselves up.” In her final years, witnessing her children grow into people she was proud of, she would tell them, “Looking at you, I realize I must have done something right after all.”
Tami was famous for her nose for fashion and ability to spot the next big trend. She was the first woman in Be’eri to wear zippered jeans, and turned heads whenever she came back from a visit to Tel Aviv with a new pair of earrings. Coupled with a keen eye for quality and chic, Tami possessed the rare ability to identify trends just before they hit the mainstream. Stepping into a clothes shop, she could instantly pick out the most unique and original piece from a sea of thousands, and once she put it on, it wasn’t long before everyone started copying her. Her fashion sense was intertwined with her artistic spirit. In her youth, Tami excelled in sewing and design at Shenkar College, overcoming her previous academic challenges to shine as a dedicated and talented student. Upon her return to the kibbutz, she found her place as a school teacher, teaching various crafts including jewelry making, woodworking, and sewing. She also took on the role of homeroom teacher, and in her free time created her own gold and silver jewelry as well as clothing.
In 1986, she was appointed head of Be’eri’s sewing shop, and with the same vim and vigor she applied to any project she took part in, she transformed it from a modest workshop into a successful factory. Tami led the Be’eri sewing shop for nearly three decades, and continued to contribute her expertise even after official retirement. Following her tenure at the sewing shop, Tami launched her own line of designer handbags, “Tamitik,” which she marketed to friends and acquaintances. Her handbags quickly became a hit, well-known among connoisseurs across the country. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she started sewing fabric face masks. She just couldn’t stay still.
While still at the sewing shop, Tami began to study alternative medicine, becoming a practitioner of shiatsu, tui na and acupuncture. Her treatments were known for their gentle touch, providing both physical and spiritual healing. In the final years, she gave up practicing due to hand pain, but continued to offer valuable advice and recommendations for natural remedies for relaxation.
Tami had a special relationship with each of her 12 grandchildren. She engaged with them on their level, becoming the go-to grandmother for cookies or when a shirt needed mending. A large part of her family lived nearby on Be’eri, enveloping her in love. Her father – affectionately dubbed “Sabba Abba” by the big Barmak tribe – lived nearly to the age of 100 on Be’eri, passing away four years before his daughter. Her home – overflowing with exquisite flowers, paintings and artwork – was a hub of family gatherings. Tami was the heart of these gatherings, in charge of orchestrating the birthday parties, writing the greeting cards and baking the cakes.
During the Coronavirus pandemic, Tami and her sisters opened “BarmaCafé,” a communal coffee shop whose name playfully nodded to their maiden name, providing the people of Be’eri a much-needed social setting. Every Wednesday afternoon, the café opened its doors to the kibbutz members, serving coffee alongside the Barmak sisters’ homemade baked goods – lemon pie, meringues, chocolate chip cookies, orange cake, cheesecake and more. Tami, by then retired, was the driving force behind the initiative, spending her weeks purchasing products and preparing the kitchen for Wednesday’s baking. The guests were greeted at the café with a smile and slice of cake.
With her unstoppable generosity, Tami dedicated herself to numerous volunteer activities. Among those she helped was Khaled, a resident of the Gaza Strip who worked as a construction worker in Be’eri before the First Intifada. When Khaled could no longer enter Israel, Tami initiated a campaign to collect donations from Be’eri residents to support his family in Gaza. The funds were gathered and transferred over the years, along with birthday cards and holiday greetings. Later, Tami volunteered at “The Road to Recovery,” a nonprofit organization that arranges transport for Palestinian patients from border crossings to Israeli hospitals for medical treatment. Every week, she would drive to Erez Crossing, pick up a patient from Gaza to their medical appointments, and then back to the border. When Khaled’s brother was diagnosed with cancer and hospitalized in Israel, Tami had the opportunity to pick up Khaled from the checkpoint and detour to Kibbutz Be’eri en route to the hospital, giving him a chance to reconnect with kibbutz members he hadn’t seen for years.
On the morning of Saturday, October 7, 2023, Tami was at her home in Be’eri. When the Hamas terror attack began, she entered her safe room and called her family. As it became clear that terrorists had infiltrated the kibbutz, her son Ben, who lived nearby, instructed her to hold the safe room's door handle to keep them out. Tami gripped the handle with all her might, until she felt she was about to pass out and sat down for a moment’s rest. A short while after, still on the call, her son heard the terrorists breaking into the safe room and taking Tami. At first, the family thought she had been kidnapped to Gaza, but ten days after the attack her body was identified, dashing all hopes to see her alive again.
May her memory be a blessing.
