A group of family members of hostages being held by Hamas terrorists in Gaza visited Crown Heights on Sunday afternoon in their continued campaign to keep their loved ones’ plight in the public eye.
They were greeted by Rabbi Chanina and Orly Sperlin, who hosted a welcome at their home.
They were joined by members of the Crown Heights Jewish community, NY City Council Member Rita Joseph, NY State Assembly Member Brian Cunningham, and Yaakov Finkelshteyn from the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The gathering heard from Maurice Shneider, uncle of Shiri Bibas, the youngest captive still in terrorist hands; Moshe Lavie, brother in law of Omri Miran; Efrat Yahalomi, Sister of hostage Ohad Yahalomi and aunt of released hostage Eitan Yahalomi; Gilad Korngold, father of hostage Tal Shoham. Tal’s wife Adi and children Yahel and Naveh Shoham; and Daniel Lifshitz – whose grandparents Oded Lifshitz and Yocheved Lifshitz, both in their 80’s were among the oldest Israelis captured. Yocheved was released, but Oded is still being held.
Each of the family members spoke eloquently of their missing family members and the difficulties they have endured since they were captured on October 7. They also described their own feelings as they became aware of the capture of their loved ones.
Several also lost friends and family members who were murdered on that day. They also described the trauma of the children who witnessed such brutality and the lasting effects on them.
The families have been working with the Hostage and Family Forum to put a human face on the hostage crisis and to advocate for their speedy return. The elected officials, Joseph and Cunningham, both spoke of their support for Israel in its self-defense and for the speedy return of the hostages. Also present were Michael Cohen of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and Joel Lefkowitz of the NY Attorney General’s office.
The group then went to the main shul at 770 Eastern Parkway, where they were able to say prayers for the success of their mission with the immediate freeing of their family members to be reunited with their loved ones speedily.
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We need to make sure their voices are heard!!!
It’s so humbling to see the videos and pictures from the visit.
Pure yiddishe neshamos came all the way from Israel, all the way from a far far life style and awareness, to connect to צדיק הדור.
They probably never even thought about such a trip prior to the events that took their loved ones into captivity.
The pain is on their face but also the wide open eye that wants to meet רוחניות at its glory.
שמע ישראל השם אלוקינו השם אחד!
מי כעמך ישראל !!
הושיעה את עמך וברך את נחלתך
It is fantastic how Chabad keeps leading these efforts to reach out to the families of the hostages and to advocate for them in the USA. It is really a tremendous service to the unity of the Jewish nation.
You must bring this to a MIRACULOUS end immediately. It will not happen otherwise.We daven as one,with all our collective heart and soul, that You return the captives of Tzion home NOW, This includes EVERY one of those kidnapped, together with our captured soldiers. Please shower them all with Heavenly rachmanus as only You can. NIssai Nissim are needed, please, please, please. To all the peace-loving, foolhardy dreamers out there: If you are waiting for the Western or Arab world to do something about this soon, stop right now. Let’s face the fact that we can’t have more rachmanus on… Read more »