Released hostage: 'My faith gave me immense strength'

A tearful and emotional audience attended a thanksgiving event in Bat Yam this week to celebrate the release of hostage survivor Eli Sharabi, who was kidnapped from his home in Kibbutz Be'eri on October 7th, and released after 491 difficult days of captivity in Gaza.

The event was held at the Orot HaTorah community, headed by Rabbi David Hai HaCohen, at the initiative of the Turgeman family and the synagogue directors, and was attended by rabbis, public figures, friends and family members, who came to give thanks for the miracle of his release and to encourage Eli on his new path.

The host made a blessing thanking G-d for the miracle of Eli’s release and a family member, Avraham Turgeman, spoke about the sequence of events, recalling that Rabbi HaCohen prayed for Eli and promised that a thanksgiving event would be held for him when he returned safely.

Eli Sharabi told the audience his moving story, reliving the difficult moments of the kidnapping, emphasizing how faith and inner strength helped him survive the harsh conditions in the tunnels.

"The moment they dragged me from the house and put me in the car, I realized I was being kidnapped. The first thing I did instinctively was to say Shema Israel. I said it every day in captivity."

Eli described life underground – 50 meters underground, in difficult hygienic conditions, through hunger and humiliation. "When you see that your rescue is being delayed, it is difficult to continue to believe, but it is precisely from the difficult places that you need to believe even more. And in the end my rescue came."

Eli also shared his excruciating pain over the death of his wife and two daughters, who were murdered only minutes after he was separated from them. Despite his terrible loss, he emphasized his choice of life and the hope of rebuilding a better future.

Rabbi Hacohen described the characteristics of the current war, in which Hamas is trying to break the people’s spirit by kidnapping civilians.

"They understand that Israel does not give up on anyone. But even when a person’s body has been captured, his soul remains free. Eli's Shema Yisrael is an expression of a power that cannot be broken."

The rabbi called for unity and for avoiding demonstrations that could convey weakness to the enemy, and emphasized the importance of acting quietly and responsibly - "just as King David did."

The chairman of the Religious Zionism party in Bat Yam, Avraham Hakak, quoted the saying of Rabbi Zvi Yehuda Kook ztz"l: "Greater is the sanctification of G-d than the desecration of G-d." According to Hakak, October 7th symbolized a difficult moment of division, but since then the Jewish People have been growing stronger, and we have seen many hostages rescued.

The entire event was marked by the strengthening of faith, mutual responsibility, and the unity of the people – in the spirit of Eli Sharabi's words: "I was alone in the tunnels, but I felt all of you with me."