Thousands gathered Saturday night for the central Selichot prayers at the Western Wall plaza, with former hostages Noa Argamani, Itay Regev, Omer Shem Tov, Bar Kuperstein, and newlyweds Eliya and Ziv Cohen in attendance. During the evening, the rabbi of the Western Wall led a special prayer of thanksgiving for their return, alongside prayers for the safety of IDF soldiers and security forces, for national unity, and for Israel’s peace and security.
2+Communications figure Sivan Rahav Meir, who also came to the Western Wall, ran into Cohen and Argamani in the women’s section. “It took me a few seconds to realize who I was standing next to,” she wrote. “I was last night on the balcony of the Western Wall, watching the crowds who came for Selichot, and next to me—Noa Argamani, who was rescued from captivity in Gaza in ‘Operation Arnon,’ and Ziv Abud, who survived the safe room at Nova and married Eliya Cohen last week, who also returned from captivity.” According to her, the two women were absorbed in reciting the Selichot prayers. “I didn’t feel comfortable disturbing them,” she added. “I looked at the men’s section, and there the rabbi of the Western Wall, Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, was leading the prayer, surrounded by Eliya Cohen, Omer Shem Tov, Itay Regev, and Bar Kuperstein. All of them were in Hamas tunnels, and all of them are now here, holding prayer books and saying Selichot with emotion. ‘Answer us,’ ‘Master of forgiveness’—every word took on additional meaning.”
2+One moment particularly moved her: “The cantor cried out: ‘Our God in heaven, redeem us from the hands of all our enemies!’ and I looked at them, thinking to myself that this is the message from this moving ceremony. That sometimes you simply see prayers answered before your eyes. I remembered all the large prayer gatherings held for them, here and around the world, with their names called out in tears.” As you’ll recall, Eliya Cohen and his wife stood under the wedding canopy last week. The two were married before more than a thousand guests at an event that moved an entire nation—and left no eye dry. At the ceremony, Israel’s Chief Rabbi David Lau officiated. One of the central moments was the reading of the ketubah written by Moshe Shapira, father of the late Aner Shapira. On the Shabbat of October 7, Cohen and Abud were in the safe room in Re’im, together with Shapira, who fought the terrorists and deflected grenades thrown into the space. His actions saved the lives of many, including Abud.
2+At the wedding ceremony, Cohen fulfilled the promise he made to God during his days in captivity: “The whole time I was dreaming about the wedding canopy and saying: ‘Father in heaven, if I ever merit this moment under the wedding canopy, I promise you that I’ll stop, won’t acknowledge anyone in the crowd—I’ll say thank you and invite everyone to recite the Shema Yisrael.'” In a chilling speech he added: “My dear Father, only you know what I went through, only you were with me when it was hard for me. You were hungry with me, you hurt with me. You slept with me on nights when I was cold. Father in heaven, I want to say thank you so much for letting me merit standing under this wedding canopy and for making the biggest surprise I could ask for—and keeping alive the woman I love too. Father, I love you.”