Shear joy

Safely home, freed hostage Gadi Mozes shaves son’s 482-day beard

Yair had vowed not to cut his facial hair until his father returned; Gadi also takes razor to grandson’s Erez’s curls

Jessica Steinberg, The Times of Israel's culture and lifestyles editor, covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center

BEFORE: Released hostage Gadi Mozes (center), and his about-to-be cropped son Yair (right) and grandson Erez, at Rabin Medical Center, January 31, 2025. (Courtesy)
BEFORE: Released hostage Gadi Mozes (center), and his about-to-be cropped son Yair (right) and grandson Erez, at Rabin Medical Center, January 31, 2025. (Courtesy)

A day after he was released from Hamas captivity in Gaza, former hostage Gadi Mozes on Friday shaved the bushy beard of his son, Yair Mozes.

Yair had vowed not to shave until his father returned home.

In a video of the generational trims at Rabin Medical Center, where Mozes and most of the other released hostages are recuperating, 80-year-old Mozes, who was taken captive from Kibbutz Nir Oz by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023, is seen steadily shaving his son’s cheeks.

He then moves on to his grandson’s Erez’s head of massed curls.

Gadi Mozes shaves the beard of his son, Yair Mozes, and his grandson, Erez, after being freed from Hamas captivity on January 30, 2025. (Hostages Forum)

In the background, a family member calls out the shehecheyanu blessing for having finally reached the moment when Mozes is safely home.

“It’s like shearing a sheep,” says someone else.

AFTER: Released hostage Gadi Mozes (center), and his newly cropped son Yair (right) and grandson Erez, at Rabin Medical Center, January 31, 2025. (Courtesy)

 

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