‘If only there were light now’: Brother of hostage Avinatan Or talks of unity at Tel Aviv rally

Chaim Or, brother of Avinatan Or, who was taken hostage from the Supernova desert rave with his girlfriend, Noa Argamani, speaks about his brother who grew up in the religious settlement of Shilo and then struck out on his own path, “a different path from his family, but you always knows how to honor and make room for others.”

Chaim Or speaks about what took place on October 7, on the Simchat Torah Shabbat when the very beginning of the Book of Genesis is read. He talks to his brother, telling him about what he doesn’t know happened as he was taken hostage, of the nation coming together, of Chaim’s friends killed in battle, of those murdered in their homes, the rapes and pillaging.

“If you hear me, I have no idea how to tell you about this,” says Or, “so I’ll just rip off the bandage. 1,200 people killed, a fetus killed, 240 hostages. We faced darkness we can never forget. Since October 7, secular soldiers have been fighting alongside religious, the left and the right are together, and they fall in battle together. They invest in supporting each other in a way we have never seen. That’s the situation we’re in now, we’re in a war — but against the enemy, not against one another.”

Or asks the audience to speak to people they don’t know, to invite over the person from the other side of the map, “just speak in love and peace, and bring light, for the injured, the soldiers, the dead, and for Avinatan. He’ll be so happy once he’s back.”

“And there was light,” says Or, quoting from Genesis. “If only there were light now.”