Former hostage Edan Alexander visited the Ohel - the resting place of the Lubavitcher Rebbe in New York - accompanied by his parents, in a deeply symbolic and emotional moment.
The visit comes nearly a year after US President Donald Trump stood at the same site with Edan’s parents and offered a heartfelt prayer for his release from Hamas captivity. The joint prayer forged a personal bond between the Alexander family and the President, who, over the following months, worked tirelessly to help secure Edan’s freedom.
Alexander later shared that the moment of prayer between his parents and President Trump gave him a surge of hope, even while he remained in captivity. “That was the moment I realized my family was fighting for me all over the world,” he recalled. During his imprisonment, he saw footage and images of the prayer at the Ohel, which he described as a lifeline amid the harsh conditions he endured.
Edan, a graduate of Chabad institutions in Tenafly, New Jersey - where he resides with his family - is a familiar face in the local Jewish community. Chabad emissaries Rabbi Mordechai Shain, Rabbi Yitzchak Gershovitz, and Rabbi Yosef Gluckowsky have maintained close contact with the Alexander family, launching numerous initiatives to support Edan and assist in his recovery.