Until Oct. 7, Yagil Yaakov was a regular 12-year-old kid, looking forward to his bar mitzvah with a mixture of nervousness and excitement.
Then, on Simchat Torah, he was taken prisoner by Hamas, together with his brother Or, and his dad, Yair, from their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz.
In the haze that followed the violence, the owner of the Judaica store noticed the custom tefillin bag ordered by a family in Nir Oz, which had been ravaged by the terrorists. He decided to call Yagil’s mom, Ranana, to see how the family was holding up.
To his shock and dismay he learned that Yagil had been taken hostage. He immediately offered to refund the order, feeling terrible that she’d paid for the tefillin, and now who knew how long it would be until she’d be able to hand them to her beloved son.
“No, don’t give me the money,” she said resolutely. “Yagil will come home, and there will be a giant celebration, with G‑d’s help.”
On Nov. 9, Yagil appeared in a hostage video released by Palestinian Islamic Jihad, another terrorist group based in Gaza.
He looked harrowed but he was alive.
There was hope.
And this week, he was released back to Israel, back to his mother, back to his tefillin and his bar mitzvah.
But his dad is still held in Gaza along with hundreds of others.
Please pray for Yair Yaakov among the hostages taken, and for the peace and safety of our people everywhere.
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