Yosef Chaim Ohana, a former hostage who spent 738 days in Hamas captivity, was the guest speaker at a packed Congregation Anshei Shalom, 472 Hempstead Ave., last Saturday evening, when he shared a harrowing story of survival with the West Hempstead Jewish community.
Ohana attended the special talk with his friend, Daniel Sharabi, who acted as Ohana’s translator and was also present on Oct. 7, 2023, when the Nova Music Festival massacre took place.
The pair had been enjoying the festival with friends when the attack occurred, they said. A former member of the Israel Defense Forces, Ohana helped evacuate those who were wounded in the massacre. Sharabi was also helping wounded when he and Ohana were separated.
Ohana eventually took shelter with several people, all of whom were killed by Hamas militants before they abducted him. Ohana was one of 251 hostages taken that day and held captive in the Gaza strip.
During his two years in captivity, Ohana recalled being beaten, tortured, starved, and psychologically abused. He also recalled being held in underground tunnels and being forced by his captors to choose which of his fellow hostages would be injured or killed.
He recalled “the knowledge of how close the end was, just one breath away,” Ohana said through Sharabi.
“The hardest part is the psychological impact of what happens when you’re hungry like that,” Sharabi said, translating for Ohana about his experience of being fed a piece of pita bread each day. “It’s the war inside.”
Ohana shared with the audience the three tools he relied on to survive. “Peace, love and sympathy helped me to stay strong,” Ohana said through Sharabi.
“Even in the darkest place, I could still choose to see hope and believe that one day we will be free,” Ohana added. “That belief was a compass, giving me not just the will to survive but to think about the future.”
Those who attended last Saturday’s special program at Congregation Anshei Shalom said they held out hope that Ohana would one day be released.
“I prayed for him everyday,” Sergey Kadinsky, a West Hempstead resident, said. “I never thought I’d see him in West Hempstead.”
Ohana was set free on Oct. 13, 2025, on Hoshana Rabbah, the seventh day of the Jewish holiday Sukkot. Ohana was one of the final 20 living hostages returned to Israel as part of an agreement to end the war with Hamas. Before he spoke, a video of Ohana reuniting with his father was played.
“For two years, all of us, and Jewish people around the world, carried names on our shoulders, engraved in our hearts, our minds,” Rabbi Elon Soniker, of Congregation Anshei Shalom, said. “The names of hostages, soldiers, the names of the fallen. We all felt the relief, the happiness, this past Hoshana Rabbah, when clips emerged from Israel of families reuniting after two years being a hostage.”
Ohana told the audience that he greatly appreciated all the prayers and support that they had shown him and the other hostages.
“The knowledge that a lot of people, the Jewish people around the world, they remember me, they love me, and everything they’ve done for me,” Ohana said. “For me to be here today and to see that, thank you,” he told the audience, remarking that without the continued action of the global Jewish community calling for the release of the hostages, he may not have been freed.
In addition to Congregation Anshei Shalom, also sponsoring the free event were Stand With Us, Eitz Chayim of Dogwood Park, Chabad of West Hempstead, Young Israel of West Hempstead, and Bais Torah U’Tefilah of West Hempstead.
In the future, Ohana said he would continue sharing his experience with the public.
