Hostage Yosef Chaim Ohana’s release after two years to the day in Hamas captivity has captured hearts across Israel and beyond. Throughout his captivity, his father, Avi Ohana, never gave up hope, sustained by unshakable faith in Hashem, deep ties to Chabad, and an unrelenting belief that the Rebbe’s bracha from 35 years earlier would see his son safely home. 

Yosef Chaim was at the Nova music festival on Shmini Atzeres when they were attacked by Hamas bloodthirsty terrorists. He and a friend began helping the injured at the party, bringing them to medics and ambulances during the attack, before trying to escape themselves. He was last seen trying to flee the attack.

Avi, a graduate of Yeshivas HaBachurim in Kfar Chabad, has long considered the Rebbe his guiding light. “All my children studied in Chabad institutions,” he shared. “Yosef Chaim learned in the Chabad school in Kiryat Malachi.”

About a month after the Simchas Torah attacks, a chartered flight brought nearly 200 family members of Israeli hostages to America, one day to daven at the Rebbe’s Ohel in Queens and another to meet government officials and diplomats in Washington. When the time came to fly home, the Ohanas made a spontaneous, life-changing decision: they would stay in New York and be near the Rebbe’s presence. 

At an emotional farbrengen in 770 in Kislev of 5784, Avi moved the crowd to tears when he cried out, “I came to the Rebbe because I have complete faith that my child is the Rebbe’s child — and the Rebbe will help him.”

Avi was visibly moved when one of the participants at the farbrengen gifted him a collage with several pictures of his son Yosef visiting 770 and the Ohel several years ago.

Over the years, Avi himself had visited the Rebbe many times and received several dollars for a bracha. One of them he always carried with him wherever he went. A short time after October 7, he discovered something remarkable about that dollar.

“I was privileged to pass by the Rebbe in 770 in New York and receive a dollar for bracha from his holy hands,” Avi recalled. “It was on the 18th of Tishrei, 5751 (1990). The Rebbe looked at me and gave me his well-known blessing: ‘Bracha v’hatzlacha.’ I’ve kept that dollar ever since, and over the past two months, I’ve felt that those two words of blessing have been accompanying me constantly. 

“This week I discovered something incredible – the 18th of Tishrei that year (when the dollar was received) fell exactly on October 7th.” 

Throughout the long and painful months, Avi remained steadfast in his faith, attending countless farbrengens and inspiring others with words of encouragement and belief in Hashem’s salvation. 

“When I was informed that my son had been kidnapped, I knew I had two options – to break down emotionally, get caught up in political discussions, and live on tranquilizers, or to live with faith and think with faith. I chose the second path. Yes, it was very difficult – he’s my son, and I missed him deeply. But the moment I placed the entire situation in the realm of faith and trust in Hashem, it gave me hope and the confidence that, with G-d’s help, everything will turn out all right.” 

He explained, “Only faith kept me going. The miracle of Yosef Chaim isn’t just our family’s story — it’s a miracle for the entire Jewish people. Every Jew who prayed, every tear that was shed, is part of this salvation. We saw the hand of Hashem.”

Avi described his approach during the darkest days: “I never went to a psychologist or psychiatrist. My psychologist was Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. When things got hard, I went to the Kosel or to the graves of tzaddikim and cried to Hashem from the depths of my heart.” 

On Simchas Torah, October 7, when he first heard that his son had been taken, his reaction stunned those around him. “I said, ‘Ribono Shel Olam! Thank You that he’s alive and not killed.’ I saw the footage – they had already aimed their weapons at him, and at the last moment decided to take him alive. That’s a gift from Heaven.”

He revealed one of the most harrowing moments his son described: “At one point, my son and about seven other hostages were lowered into a narrow, deep pit. They couldn’t sit — only stand and lean against the wall. There was barely any oxygen. A person could have died just from that. It was truly like the story of Yosef being thrown into a pit — ‘and Yosef was cast into the pit.’”

According to Avi, what sustained his son through it all was simple: “One thing — family. The thought of his father, mother, siblings, and friends. That’s what gave him strength.” 

He recounted one especially moving story: “One day, Hamas gave them a small radio to listen to the Quran. He managed to pick up an Israeli station — Galei Tzahal. Suddenly, he heard me speaking! He said to himself, ‘My father is alive! He’s waiting for me!’ That gave him new life.”

Speaking about what his son endured, Avi told Channel 12: “Now I can say that Yosef was a combat soldier and commander in the Givati Brigade. I didn’t say those words as long as he was in Hamas’ hands — today, I can finally say it. 

“He explained to me that it was hard for him to completely hide it from his captors — in their eyes, everyone is a soldier. He said he managed to hide his actual position from them. He told them he wasn’t a combat soldier but had a low-level job, and that after some time, he was thrown out of the army.” 

“My son is very brave, with tremendous inner strength,” Avi continued. “He talks to me as if he just came back from Thailand. He said, ‘Abba, enough, I’m back, it’s over. We’ll never be apart again; there’s no need to dwell on it too much.’ I tell him, ‘What do you mean? You went through hell there,’ and he replies that yes, it’s true — but it’s behind him, and little by little he’ll tell us about it. He leaves me speechless – that’s just who he is.”

“As much as we knew here in Israel that they were suffering in captivity and how hard it was for them there, we don’t know even five percent of what they went through,” Avi said. 

“There were moments of despair, especially recently, when no deal seemed to be working out. There were very dark moments when all we could see was darkness.” 

Shortly before Sukkos this year, Avi was filmed holding an old lulav and esrog, explaining that this was the last mitzvah Yosef Chaim performed before he left home and was abducted. Next to him was a new lulav and esrog he had bought for his son, saying that he believed with complete emunah that his son would come home this Sukkos and shake the lulav and esrog. 

Indeed, on the 20th of Tishrei, after two years to the day of captivity, Yosef Chaim Ohana came home. One of the first things he did was to recite the bracha on the lulav and esrog his father prepared for him.

Remarkably, two days earlier, on the 18th of Tishrei, the Israeli cabinet voted on and ratified the deal that brought Yosef Chaim home, exactly 35 years to the day after his father had received that bracha and dollar from the Rebbe, the dollar which he had chosen to carry in his wallet for the last three and a half decades.

Avi described the moment he finally saw his son: “Sometimes it’s hard for me to put feelings into words. After two years of waiting, davening, and fighting in every possible way, suddenly everything narrowed down to that one moment we had longed for. I felt it was Geulah. I look at him and can’t believe I’m seeing my son.” 

Avi told Kan Moreshet, “I’m on cloud nine, in heaven. For two years, I couldn’t sleep from the pain, and now I can’t sleep from the joy. This miracle is beyond nature. The more time passes, the more I realize just how great it is. The possuk has come to life: ‘Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me.’” 

Asked to describe the miracle, his voice broke: “There’s no way to explain it. All I can do is say ‘Thank You, Hashem,’ over and over again.” 

Avi concluded: “The miracle of Yosef Chaim is not only ours – it belongs to the whole Jewish people. Every prayer, every tear, brought this redemption closer. We saw Hashem’s hand. And what did I learn? That even when everything seems lost, nothing ever really is. Hashem doesn’t forget anyone. If Yosef Chaim came out of the pit, so will all of Am Yisrael. With Hashem’s help, we will all be redeemed!”

VIDEOS:

Avi and Yosef Chaim Ohana in emotional reunion

Yosef Chaim Ohana makes a bracha over the lulav and esrog prepared for him

Avi Ohana in 770 nearly two years ago