Two former hostages got married last Sunday night.
Sasha Troufanov and Sapir Cohen were kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7. Sapir was released two months later, in November, after only — only!!!! — 55 days after Hamas imprisoned her. Sasha, her fiancé at the time, was held for 498 days.
Hamas murdered Sasha’s grandfather, Vitaly Troufanov, on October 7. The terrorists kidnapped his grandmother, Irena Tati, and his mother, Yelena Trufanova, and released them in November.
Many other freed hostages were at the wedding, and so were Israel’s President Isaac Herzog and First Lady Michal Herzog.
“We prayed for your return, we were moved to tears when you came back home, and this evening we were privileged to rejoice together with you and to bless you under the chuppah on your joyous day,” Herzog wrote on X.
“Mazal tov Sasha and Sapir. May you build together a home filled with love, light, and joy!” he added.
Soon after Sasha was released, Sapir told reporters:
“Last night, Sasha told me that during all this time [since he was taken hostage and held in Gaza], he prayed for me to find a man to love, prayed that I wouldn’t wait for him. He didn’t want me waiting for a man he thought would never return home. He didn’t believe he would survive.”
But he did, and they got married. There might be some people who can look at scenes from the wedding, which are posted online, without crying — but there can’t be many of them.