‘Two years of praying’: Freed hostage Bar Kuperstein returns home to Holon

Former captive Bar Kuperstein was greeted by thousands of well-wishers upon returning home to Holon on Sunday, three weeks after he was freed from Hamas captivity.

He arrived in his hometown just south of Tel Aviv around sunset, as a joyous crowd gathered to welcome him back. Draped in an Israeli flag, Kuperstein exited the van he was traveling in to thank the crowd.

On the doorstep to his house, Kuperstein expressed gratitude to those who never gave up on the prospect of his return to Israel.

“Two years of captivity, of darkness, of fear. Two years of praying and hope that was never extinguished. Two years that you did not forget me — not you, not my friends, and not the nation of Israel,” he told the crowd.

“Thank God that after two years I’ve returned home. I stand here today in the city that I love so much and say thank you — thank you to everyone who prayed for me, that donned tefillin, that put up a sign, that you didn’t let me disappear,” he continued.

Holon Mayor Shai Keinan called Kuperstein’s return home “an exciting moment of communal embrace, great joy, and renewed hope.”

Kuperstein spent over a week in Kfar Maccabiah, the Ramat Gan hotel complex that was used as housing for hostages’ families while the freed hostages themselves recuperated at nearby hospitals, after he was released from the hospital.

Before returning home, Kuperstein stood outside the hotel’s front doors alongside his father, Tal Kuperstein, who learned how to stand and speak during his son’s captivity, having suffered a stroke years earlier.

Kuperstein, from Holon, was working as a medic at the Nova rave on October 7, when he was taken captive. He was released from captivity on October 13, one of the final 20 living hostages returned home as part of a ceasefire deal with Hamas.

Also Sunday, Petah Tikvah’s Rabin Medical Center announced that Alon Ohel, who returned home to his residence in northern Israel’s Lavon a week ago, underwent eye surgery and an orthopedic procedure.

The former hostage’s right eye was injured by bullet shrapnel from a Hamas gunman during the terror group’s October 7 massacre of Nova festival partygoers. He was held captive for two years in Gaza and released the same day as Kuperstein.

“Today, we performed a complex and exceptional eye surgery that was supposed to take place two years ago,” said Prof. Irit Bahar, head of the hospital’s Ophthalmology Division, who performed the surgery with Dr. Asaf Dotan, head of the retina unit.

“When we realized a few days ago that it might still be possible to save the eye, it was a deeply moving and hopeful moment. The surgery was successful, and in the coming days, we will know the extent of improvement in his vision,” she said.

Ohel also underwent orthopedic surgery performed by shoulder surgeons Dr. Yoav Rosenthal, Dr. Mark Lovenberg, and Dr. Shay Ribenzaft.

The freed captive went straight home on October 24, after being discharged from Rabin Medical Center, where he recovered following his release from Hamas captivity.

Ohel, who is returning to his longtime passion for music, appeared last week on the satirical comedy show Eretz Nehederet, where he played the piano before a crowd, as the cast sang David Broza’s “Under the Sky.”