“Surviving 738 Days in the Tunnels of Gaza” was the title of a presentation given in the United States on Sunday by Yosef Chaim Ohana. It was a nightmarish, horrific account of his being held captive by Hamas after he and 250 others were kidnapped in the attack by Hamas on Israel on October 7, 2023.

Obana was freed this past October after his more than two years in captivity.

It was “a miracle” that Ohana was able to survive, said Rabbi Berel Lerman in introducing him to speak to a packed audience in Sag Harbor, New York at the Center for Jewish Life – Chabad.

With Ohana was a fellow Israeli, Daniel Sharabi, who, the rabbi noted, spoke in 2024 at the Center for Jewish Life and told of his “best friend,” Ohana, then being “held in captivity.”

Both Ohana and Sharabi “were together” at the Nova music festival, noted the rabbi. Sharabi was able to escape capture.

“Join us,” said the center’s invitation to an “unforgettable” event, as Ohana “shares his powerful journey of courage, faith and survival. Abducted on October 7, 2023 after helping evacuate the wounded at the Nova music festival, Yosef endured 738 days in captivity under unimaginable conditions. In this rare firsthand talk, he reflects on hope in darkness, the resilience of the human spirit, and the inner strength that carried him through.”

Ohana began by describing how, after “helping people injured” in the music festival attack, “amid lots of shooting and people getting killed,” he thought of “saying goodbye to the world,” that he also could “be dead in a few minutes.”

“From my head, from my heart,” flashed the words he said to himself: “You are 23 years old now and you had a beautiful life.”

Then, grabbed by the Hamas gunmen, he wondered whether they were “going to hold me as a hostage or going to kill me.”

They “dragged me to Gaza.”

For the first several months, he was held above ground, and then “they took us down into the tunnels” that the group had built over the years.

Throughout the two years in captivity, there were constant beatings. “Death seemed near,” Ohana said. “There was torture every day….They beat us one by one.”

He provided harrowing details.

He spoke of during the beatings, those doing the torture would saying: “I will kill you, I will not.” They would “step on your head, spit on you. They tied your legs to a pipe” and jabbed a stick into them, he related. “I didn’t know if they cut my legs or were killing me. You suffered from the physical pain.”

Starvation was utilized as torture.

Still, “my values and my truth stayed with me,” said Ohana. Asked by an audience member what were his “values,” he instantly answered: “Love, peace and compassion.”

“Truth can beat out millions of lies,” said Ohana.

“Every day I spoke with God,” he said. He addressed God “like a friend.”

And he felt, “One day I would be free. I have reason to survive.”

Meanwhile, there were attempts by the Hamas captors to “take me to Islam,” to try to get him to convert from Judaism.

After his presentation, Rabbi Lerman asked Ohana about his “perspective now.” Ohana responded: “Stay strong about us being Jewish.”

And he said of Israel, “We are the best nation in the world.”

Ohana was released in October 2025 with 19 other hostages, the last living hostages returned as a phase in negotiations.

At the Center for Jewish Life, he was given a standing ovation.

“We are living at a time of great darkness,” said Rabbi Lerman after Ohana spoke. The rabbi cited “the darkness of the tunnels of Gaza” and attacks in recent times on Jews around the world including the slaughter of Jews celebrating Hanukkah in Sydney, Australia this past December.

Still, Rabbi Lerman emphasized, “light is eternally greater than darkness.”

Shining a light on antisemitism in all its current forms is necessary, said the rabbi—and “to be fearless, to be strong, to be courageous.”

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)