Chabad of Sea Cliff and Glen Cove hosts former Hamas hostages

A capacity crowd at Vegan Rob’s in Sea Cliff heard first-hand accounts from Ohad and Raz Ben Ami of being abducted and imprisoned by Hamas during the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
The Israeli couple, who survived several months in captivity before being released, shared their story with community members and reflected on the ongoing conflict and its human toll.

The Dec. 17 event was held as part of a series of communal gatherings organized by the Chabad of Sea Cliff and Glen Cove in the months following the attack. Rabbi Sholom Heber said the program was intended to provide a space for testimony, solidarity and reflection as the war continues to reverberate across Israel and Jewish communities worldwide.

At the start of the evening, the rabbi addressed the audience and reflected on the local response in the days following Oct. 7, describing the shock and grief that swept through the community as news emerged of the attack, the killings, and the abductions. He noted that the gathering represented a moment many in the community had prayed for, saying it marked a shift from uncertainty to presence and survival.

“For me personally, to come here and make an event like this makes me strong,” he said, “because we were praying (for the hostages’ freedom), we were asking and Baruch Hashem, here we are at this moment.”

The rabbi also spoke about Hanukkah and resilience, drawing parallels between the ancient holiday and the current moment. He described the Maccabean revolt as a brutal and costly struggle and emphasized perseverance in the face of loss. He said the light of Hanukkah symbolizes pushing back darkness even when darkness persists.

Raz then provided a detailed account of the couple’s life before the attack, describing their home in Kibbutz Be’eri, located close to the Gaza border, and the morning of Oct. 7 when rocket sirens and phone alerts woke them. She recounted how they sheltered inside their home as militants entered the kibbutz and neighbors sent desperate messages asking where the army was and pleading for help.

She described how militants eventually entered their house, searched it, and abducted them, holding the couple separately. Each explained their different experiences being taken to various holding places; for Raz it was initially a Gazan home, while Ohad spent the entire period in underground tunnels.

She went on to describe her captivity in Gaza, where she was held in homes and later in tunnels. She said the most terrifying aspect was not hunger or lack of sanitation, but the constant bombing, explaining that she feared being killed by an airstrike without anyone knowing where she was or what had happened to her.

“It was the most scariest thing that I could feel,” she described. “Even the terrorist sitting with us with guns all the time, it wasn’t scary as the IDF bombs, because we didn’t know if it will fall on us or won’t fall on us.”

Ohad described being barefoot for long periods, having limited water and food, and enduring extreme uncertainty about his wife and daughters. Since he was kept underground with a group of younger men, he described the ways they told stories, taught each other prayers and financial information, and found ways to pass the time in the lightless tunnels.

Despite this, there were serious tensions kept in such tight living conditions, especially when he and five other captives had to share food meant for just three.

“Imagine six people cannot go anywhere and need to be 24/7 with each other,” he described. “The six of us are very hungry, very nervous, and so they start fighting.”

One of the most terrifying moments during their respective releases was finding out what had happened to their daughters while they were kidnapped.

“Finding out they were okay, it was like giving birth to my daughters again,” Raz reflected. “When I met them in the hospital, it was very emotional.”

Ohad said they were repeatedly told by their captors that the Israeli government had abandoned them and that no one was advocating for their release. He said limited access to television broadcasts, including images of protests and international demonstrations gave them hope that people were demanding their freedom. He said this knowledge helped them survive month to month.

While Raz was released as part of a deal after 57 days, Ohad remained in captivity for a total of 491 days. She described the anguish of leaving him behind and the secrecy she felt compelled to maintain to protect him. She said her daughters became active advocates for hostage awareness, contacting media and officials to confirm that captives were alive and being held, not just killed.

He said he had lost significant amount weight and was in critical condition. Doctors later told him he would not have survived much longer. He said the joy of reunion with his family was accompanied by guilt and grief for those who did not return.

“We were like a big family in the kibbutz,” he said. “To look in their eyes, I feel very guilty, because I’m alive and their family is not.”

The couple addressed questions from the audience about their views on the war, coexistence, and the future of their destroyed kibbutz. They acknowledged the immense loss of civilian life in Gaza while also describing the trauma inflicted on Israeli communities.

The evening concluded with a symbolic lighting of a menorah made from remnants of rockets launched at Israel by Hamas. Donations from the event went to support the family.