��ý��Ƶ Embraces Hostage Families

��ý��Ƶ & High School students, faculty, and staff stood in solidarity with the families of hostages still held captive, praying for their safe return. We were deeply moved by the powerful words of the families of Yair and Eitan Horn, Oded Lifshitz, and Omer Shem Tov, and we hope they felt strengthened by our students’ tefilot.

The family members joined ��ý��Ƶ for meaningful Tefilot for Israel “On the Steps.” The school community gathered to recite Tehillim and song as relatives reminded students that their prayers matter.

At ��ý��Ƶ High School, the special guests shared words of hope, spoke about the personalities of their missing loved ones, shared the harrowing stories of their abductions, and described their ongoing efforts to bring them home. May Hashem return all of the hostages.

Leat Ungar, cousin of hostage Omer Shem Tov, says, “Omer loves music and wants to be a music producer. He’s the guy whose shoulder everyone leans on.” Omer was at the Nova music festival when the rocket fire began. He tried to escape but terrorists shot into the car, wounding his friends, and kidnapped him across the Gaza border. His family saw him later that night on a video with other hostages. Today, they understand that he is still alive, though struggling to breathe due to asthma and celiac. He is keeping his faith strong in captivity by rationing his food and reciting kiddush on Shabbat as a way to ensure he doesn’t lose his identity. Leat says, “Some days I cannot get out of bed, but then I remind myself that if Omer can keep his faith in captivity, who am I not to?”

Oded Lifshitz, a founder of Kibbutz Nir Oz, was always helping his Gazan neighbors by driving them to medical appointments and helping to improve their education system. “He is the only grandfather being held hostage,” says his grandson, Daniel. Oded loved playing piano, working in his cactus garden and sharing Friday night dinners with the family. He says, “He fought in four wars and always promoted peace.” On October 7th, five terrorists entered Daniel’s grandparents’ home, shot five bullets into the safe room and took them both to Gaza.. “My grandmother lost 22 pounds in 17 days but we were lucky to get her back in the first hostage release in November,” he says. “We thought my grandfather had been murdered but we were told that although he was shot, they had removed the bullet and he is alive, and is being held captive in a house. We pray he will be home soon.”

Dalia Kushnir, sister of Yair and Eitan Horn, says, “That weekend, the siblings were supposed to have Shabbat together on the kibbutz but my husband decided to stay home. On October 7th, they texted that they were in the safe room and were OK but soon they stopped responding. We didn’t know anything till November 25th when a woman who was released in the hostage deal said that they were alive. Yair was being kept with the soldiers and was fighting dehydration and starvation. Eitan was being kept with a family where he was helping the woman take care of the kids. “I know for sure that Eitan, Yair and all the hostages will return to Israel,” she says. “I’m doing everything I can to stay strong since they’re going to come back sick and weak and we are going to help them rebuild their lives.”

The family members fear that people will get used to seeing the hostages on a poster, and will be sad for a second and move on. “Do a small thing every day in the name of a hostage, wear a hostage pin, and help us keep them alive,” says Daniel. Thank you to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum for ensuring this message stays at the forefront of our minds.