Amit Zeisel

Captivity survivor Ofer Calderon: I woke up this morning and opened my phone. And I saw hundreds of messages from people I don't even know. My hands were just shaking and I had to sit down to digest. I couldn't believe this was happening to me, that it was real. People who were complete strangers, who decided to simply open their hearts, who decided to reach out to me and walk with me on this difficult journey. People who simply saw the article on the news and decided to be a part of my journey, of my rehabilitation, of my return to life. To give me the strength and the opportunity to return to being a father for the sake of my children. It is impossible to describe how much it strengthens me, How much mental strength it gives me. This feeling, that everyone is with me, that they love me, that they will not leave me for a moment, simply floods me with tears of excitement and gratitude. I have no way to thank each and every one of you. When I was in captivity, I thought that maybe there were no more people like me, that maybe the world had simply forgotten about me. The terrorists' goal was to break us mentally and make us understand that we had nowhere to go back. Everything has changed and almost does not exist. But since I returned, I see anew every day the huge heart of the people here, of the people of Israel. It's just not obvious. Only here, only in this nation, are there people who are willing to give with all their souls, to help others. It warms my heart and gives me strength to continue my journey. This morning, along with all your love and support, I was also exposed to publications about a new hostage exchange deal. My heart is simply torn. I know exactly what it feels like to be left behind, to live in uncertainty, in fear that you will never return. We must not decide who will return home and who will not, especially when there are brothers there, we must not separate them! Everyone there is a humanitarian case, everyone must return home now!. We must not leave anyone behind. Keep fighting for them until the last of the kidnapped. Everyone needs to return to their families and every day that passes could be too late. Again, thanks to the Reaching Out Association for accompanying me and my family and to the members of my riding group, "The Smurfs", who never leave me for a moment. Praying that everyone will return home soon.

Captivity survivor Ofer Calderon asks for help🙏 Since I returned, I have hardly posted anything here, and I never imagined I would write a post like this. But today I understand that I have no choice, some things must come out of me, it has already become stronger than me and no more. 484 days in Hamas captivity and I still have not truly returned to life. The morning of October 7th is the moment when my life fell apart. Before my eyes, while I was wounded and bleeding, Hamas terrorists kidnapped my two children, Sahar, 16, and Erez, who was only 12 at the time. Then I was dragged to Gaza, humiliated and helpless. That moment, when Erez was torn from my hands and Sahar was led away on a motorcycle between two terrorists, is a nightmare that comes back every night and never lets me go. Questions that I ask myself and I can't ignore. How did I fail as a father? How did I fail to protect them? 484 days of torture, of hunger, of beatings and humiliation. But nothing was as hard as the uncertainty that my children and family might no longer be alive, and that I would never be able to tell them how much I loved them. To give me the opportunity to ask them for forgiveness for not being there for them. There is one unimaginable moment that never leaves me for a second: meeting my daughter, Sahar, in captivity, two weeks before they released her after 52 days. I was so happy to see her, but at the same time my heart broke into pieces. Imagine how I felt when they took her from me again, how her tears and our cries to stay together burned into my soul. It was as if I was living inside a horror movie, like a nightmare I had only heard about from Holocaust stories, which separate children from parents. Her gaze and the sound of her crying mixed with mine haunt me every night, as if I were experiencing the kidnapping all over again, only in a much more cruel and painful way. When I returned, I had nothing left. My carpentry shop in Nir Oz, which I built with my own hands and was my source of income, will no longer be of use to me, there is no way I will return. My home has become a place of painful and chilling memories. People ask me if I will return to live there, and I can’t even imagine it. Every corner of the kibbutz is a memory of the nightmare that has become my life. I thought that when I return, I would at least be able to compensate my children for all the suffering they went through. But the truth is that I can barely compensate myself. I have no way of supporting myself and my family. Every evening I enter the horror movie again, waiting for the night to end and praying for dawn to come, just to fight again the next day. To see the light. When they see us smiling during the day, they don’t know that in the dark everything returns. The fears, the anxieties, the feeling of failure and abandonment. They abandoned me, and made me feel like I had abandoned my children too. They abandoned me, they abandoned us, but I will not let this feeling control me. Not anymore. I will put the shame aside and do everything to not abandon my family again, so that I feel like a father who can provide for and protect his children like any other father. I never dreamed that I would reach the day when I would have to ask for help, but I have no choice. I just want to go back to being a real father to my children, to support them, to give them a better life and to rehabilitate their souls and minds. The members of my cycling group, "The Smurfs," with the assistance of the Reaching Out Association that accompanies me and my family, decided to help me embark on a new path and launch a crowdfunding campaign that will be the beginning of true rehabilitation, to give me the opportunity to return to life. My dream is to feel like a father who can protect my children and my family again. Without thinking about how to even start. In one day, almost everything was gone. But I am here and I just need help.

Dear friend, just a little more. Hang in there.

637 days. 50 hostages are still there. *Alon Ohel* (Alon ben Idit), our piano man. His fellow captives have told how Alon has endured throughout the many months of captivity, playing imaginary piano on his chest, softly humming favourite songs and talking about his family. Ohel sustained significant injuries on October 7, including shrapnel in his eye. Praying for the day Alon can return to the piano to play for all of us. Please Hashem - heal his eyes, help him endure and bring him home. We are waiting for you, Alon💔. *STRONGER TOGETHER*

It's been 638 days too many 🎗️

Alon needs to come home now 🎗️💔

632 days. 50 hostages are still there. *Ariel Cunio* (Ariel ben Sylvia). Ariel was taken captive from his Kibbutz Nir Oz home with his girlfriend, Arbel Yehud. We all watched as Arbel was released, terrified, in a sea of dark demons surrounding her. Ariel is still there. So is his brother, David. Please Hashem - save Ariel from the chains of evil demons💔 *STRONGER TOGETHER*

It's been 632 days too many 🎗️

Bring Matan back home 🎗️💔

There are still 53 hostages in Gaza 🎗️

597 ימים לא תמיד מבינים את הזמן שעובר הרבה פעמים נדמה שאנחנו תקועים באותו היום עלמא נגמלה מבקבוק לילה גם את זה עמרי פספס שואלים אותי הרבה ממה את נשברת? מהרגעים הקטנים האלו שנראים כל כך לא חשובים אבל הם הכי משמעותיים. תמונה אחת מה- 06.10.23 תמונה אחרת מאתמול זה כמה עבר הזמן. תחזירו כבר את עמרי 💔 תחזירו כבר את כולם 💔

Eitan Horn.🎗 38 years old from Kfar Saba, was kidnapped on October 7 with his brother Yair, from his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz, after he came to visit him during the Sukkot holiday. Bring him home NOW.

Bring Matan and Nimrod Home 🎗️

Ariel & David 🎗️🎗️

Nimrod, Day 590. We hold you in our hearts. 🕊️ #BringThemHomeNow🎗️

It's been 589 days too many 🎗️

Bring Alon Home 🎗️

Release David Cunio 🎗️

589 days.... Bring him home, before its to late !!! WE WILL NOT FORGET YOU 🙏🙏 💛

Don't forget about Nimrod. His father thinks he and the other hostages have been abandoned by the government. We will never abandon them! #BringNimrodHome📣 #BringThemAllHomeNow🙏