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What Matters Now to Eli Sharabi: Living with trauma and mourning

The former hostage speaks about reuniting with fellow captive Alon Ohel, how being recognized has helped him recover, and his hopes for the future

With:
  • Jessica Steinberg
    Jessica Steinberg

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

  • Eli Sharabi (Courtesy)
    Eli Sharabi
    Former hostage Eli Sharabi was released from Hamas captivity in February 2025, and came home to Israel to find out that his wife and daughters were killed in their Kibbutz Be'eri home on October 7, 2023.

Welcome to What Matters Now, a weekly podcast exploring key issues currently shaping Israel and the Jewish World, with host Jessica Steinberg speaking with former hostage Eli Sharabi.

Sharabi, whose bestselling book “Hostage” was recently translated into English, spoke to What Matters Now a few days before burying his brother Yossi Sharabi, whose body was recently released to Israel, two years after he was taken hostage on October 7 from Kibbutz Be’eri, the community where both brothers had lived with their families.

Sharabi speaks about the joy of reuniting with recently released hostage Alon Ohel, his fellow captive for months in a Gaza tunnel.

He talks about how work, the book, and public speaking have been therapeutic acts for him, as he contends with the murder of his wife and daughters on October 7.

Sharabi speaks about Be’eri, where he lived for 35 years, his chosen community that can no longer be a home for him, but that he hopes will be rehabilitated and rebuilt.

And so this week, we ask Eli Sharabi, what matters now.

What Matters Now podcasts are available for download on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by the Pod-Waves.

Check out the previous What Matters Now episode:

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