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“This is the first time in my life that I have fasted properly. Not much time has passed, and here I am.”
By United With Israel Staff
After more than 700 days in Hamas captivity, 38-year-old Eitan Horn finally returned home last week to Kfar Saba.His release marked both a deeply personal miracle and a national moment of reflection.
Horn, one of 20 hostages freed under the latest truce deal, spoke tearfully about the faith and inner resolve that carried him through nearly two years in Gaza.
In a meeting with social activist Shai Graucher, he revealed that for the first time in his life, he chose to fast on Yom Kippur, believing it would hasten his redemption.
“On the eve of Rosh Hashanah, I said, ‘This time I will fast properly on Yom Kippur, and it will come,’” Horn recalled. “This is the first time in my life that I have fasted properly. Not much time has passed, and here I am. I did not think of fasting on the first Yom Kippur in captivity, but I decided to take responsibility for myself.”
His words, filled with humility and gratitude, reflect a man who endured unimaginable hardship yet clung to faith and hope.
On Thursday, Horn was discharged from Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center’s Ichilov Hospital, where he and fellow hostage survivor Nimrod Cohen completed medical evaluations after their return to Israel earlier in the week.
Hospital officials said medical teams will continue accompanying the freed hostages and their families throughout their physical and emotional recovery.
When Horn arrived in Kfar Saba, hundreds of residents poured into the streets to greet him. Israeli flags waved from balconies, children held hand-painted signs, and songs of joy echoed through the neighborhood.
His mother, Ruthie Strom, who had campaigned tirelessly for the return of her sons, stood at the center of the crowd, overcome with emotion as her community surrounded them with love.
“After 738 difficult and long days in Hamas captivity, Eitan is finally coming home,” the Horn family said in a statement. “We’re waiting for him with hugs and endless love and will support him throughout his rehabilitation. Our heart is not whole, and our struggle is not over. Eitan has returned, but that’s not enough. Only when the last hostage is home can we say we’ve fulfilled our mission and our moral duty.”
Horn’s story, interwoven with faith and fortitude, is a poignant reminder of what Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, represents: repentance, renewal, and triumph of the spirit.
In 2025, Yom Kippur fell on October 2, just days before Horn’s release under the U.S.-brokered truce that brought him and 19 others home.
For Horn, the timing felt almost divine. His first true Yom Kippur fast became a spiritual preparation for the freedom that was finally to come.
Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, begins at sundown on the ninth day of the Hebrew month of Tishrei and concludes the following evening. Jews traditionally fast from food and drink, devoting themselves to prayer and reflection.
The Torah commands, “On the tenth day of the seventh month you shall afflict yourselves,” symbolizing a rise above the physical toward spiritual clarity and closeness to God.
For Horn, that act of self-denial became something deeper—a gesture of hope in the darkest of places. And now, standing free in his hometown among a sea of blue and white flags, his fast feels like it was answered—not just with freedom, but with the promise that faith and perseverance still matter, even in a world that has seen so much darkness.
For Horn, Yom Kippur now carries a profoundly personal meaning. It is no longer merely a day of fasting and atonement, but a time of spiritual connection, faith fulfilled, and the quiet assurance that devotion and prayer can guide us even through the darkest times.
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