President Isaac Herzog hosted a moving gathering on Wednesday with the “Tefillin for Every Hostage” project, an initiative launched by Riki Siton and Julie Kupershtein, mother of hostage Bar Kupershtein, who has been held captive by Hamas for over 600 days.
Bar was abducted on October 7 by Hamas terrorists while working as a security guard at the Nova festival near Kibbutz Re’im. On the morning of the attack, he remained on-site to help and provided first aid to wounded festivalgoers until he was taken captive.
The initiative connects individuals who do not regularly don tefillin and who volunteer to do so daily in the merit of a specific hostage, with tefillin donors, and even artists. Each volunteer puts on tefillin daily for “their” hostage still in Hamas captivity, as a show of solidarity and to give hope to the hostages’ families. Across Israel, “Bar Tefillin” stations have been set up, each dedicated to a different hostage. This project is one of several initiatives that Julie and Riki have led over the past year and eight months to support the hostages and their families.
At the emotional gathering, participants included Bar Kupershtein’s family; Orit, the mother of Almog Meir Jan who was rescued from Hamas captivity in Operation Arnon; Riki Siton, director of the “Havruta” project; Rabbi Shlomo Raanan, CEO of Ayelet Hashachar; project volunteers; tefillin donors—including two young students who raised funds for pairs of tefillin; and students from the ultra-Orthodox branch of the Bezalel Academy, who presented artwork inspired by the project.
Ayelet Hashachar works to strengthen social cohesion in Israeli society through projects such as synagogue building in kibbutzim and “Havruta,” a weekly joint learning program involving thousands of Jews nationwide. Since the war began, the organization has also operated a prayer and study tent in Hostages Square, where hostage families and the general public come together in prayer and unity.
President Isaac Herzog thanked the participants for strengthening the spirit of the people and emphasized the nation’s highest commitment to returning all the hostages. He said, “This is a very emotional and very special event. I wish for all of us to continue doing everything possible to bring everyone home—all of them, down to the last one. Let us cry out, demand, insist, tear open the gates of Heaven, and bring them home. May we see Bar return home—and all the others, some to rehabilitation, and tragically, some to be laid to rest in dignity.”
“These are very difficult, delicate, and complex moments. The negotiations are incredibly tough. Israel has accepted the Witkoff proposal. Israel is ready to go forward with the Witkoff proposal. I say to all the nations of the world—just tell Hamas, enough - we’re not listening until you release everyone. Please, God, we will see them all return home.* Thank you very much for the tefillin—it’s a wonderful idea. I put on tefillin every day. We are all praying for their return, and I am confident that our prayers will be answered.”
Volunteers shared their deep sense of purpose and the strong emotional bond they’ve formed with the hostages and their families through their participation in the project. Julie, Bar’s mother, said: “We have been blessed to see such powerful unity among the people of Israel. This sweet nation rose up so beautifully in response to October 7. Sadly, we went through what we went through, but out of the darkness, we are growing. This event is truly Bar’s event—and of his new brothers and sisters who are still in deep darkness, yet shining light into the world from there. When the terrorist called to threaten me, I told him: ‘My Bar is not in your hands. He is only in the hands of the Creator of the World, even when he’s in Gaza.’ That’s how I feel, always.”
Tal, Bar’s father, who became dependent on care following a car accident, has spent the past year undergoing speech rehabilitation. He shared his personal story and spoke of Bar: “We learned about Bar’s abduction at 11 a.m., when the horrific video was published, showing him bound at the wrists and ankles, a cord wrapped around his neck. Even in that moment, Bar was shouting his name to the terrorists and pleading with them to help the wounded Elkanah Buchbut. That’s Bar—always putting others before himself.”