The colors she lives by: How one mother is keeping her son's memory alive after October 7

Adital Zu Aretz, whose son Ilai Baram was murdered by Hamas terrorists near the Nova festival on October 7, 2023, has turned to painting and color therapy as a way to process grief and keep his memory alive. She has authored two books: 'Green and Pink,' a self-healing method using colors, and a children's book about Ilai. She now leads workshops in Israel and abroad, and has established color 'embassies' in Rome, Amsterdam, and Barcelona.

Adital Zu Aretz, whose son Ilai Baram was murdered by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023, near Kibbutz Gevim as he drove back from the Supernova music festival, has turned to painting and color therapy as a means of processing her grief and keeping his memory alive. Ilai, born on Purim eve 1996, served as a squad commander in the Nahal Brigade despite having asthma, and later became a successful Wim Hof Method instructor, working with companies like Microsoft and Google. After his death, Zu Aretz found comfort in colors and wrote two books: 'Green and Pink,' a self-healing method using colors and shapes published in Hebrew in December 2025 and also in English and Italian, and a children's book 'Ilai and Henry in the Kingdom of Pacifiers,' published in October 2025. She now leads workshops in her Tel Aviv home and at major companies, and has established color 'embassies' in Rome, Amsterdam, and Barcelona. Zu Aretz, a trained marriage therapist, describes living in two worlds: the world of pain and the world of joy, as she remains present for her two other children and her granddaughter.