Rabbi Berel Namdar with released hostage Matan Engerst
Recently, Tzivia and I traveled to Israel with a mission in mind: to share the love and support of our entire community with wounded IDF soldiers and their families and recently released hostages.
The time we spent with them will stay with us forever. They so much appreciated all the love and support we shared with them.
One of the hostages we met was Bar Kuperstein, a hero who could have escaped the Nova festival but, as a trained medic, chose to stay and save countless lives. Tragically, Bar was brutally taken hostage to Gaza, where Hamas beat him and humiliated him. During the kidnapping, they ripped the emerald-faced Cartier watch he was wearing from his wrist.
Bar is now released. He shared that, while in captivity, even in the darkest moments, his faith in G-d is what kept him going. Since his release, he has not missed a day of laying tefillin.
Sitting with him, we told him: “We can’t undo what they did to you. But we can do this: They tore the watch off your wrist. The Jewish people will put it back on.”
his newly replaced Cartier watch
Within two hours of meeting him, thanks to a group of generous supporters the same Cartier watch that had been stolen from him was located in Los Angeles and procured for him. It was as if the Jewish people, in one heartbeat, closed the circle of what evil tried to break. It was a small gesture, but to Bar it meant so much.
My phone recently lit up with a FaceTime from Bar. He was smiling as he showed me the new watch on his wrist. He told me he feels the love of our people, that he carries it with him, and that he believes G-d was with him every step of the way.
Moments like this remind us: We may be the smallest nation, but we are the largest family on earth.
Rabbi Berel Namdar is co-founder and executive director of Chabad of Singer Island, Juno Beach & the Beaches.
with injured IDF soldiers
