Moran Stella Yanai spoke before a room of 240 women at the Chabad Center for Jewish Life and Learning at an event titled “Endurance, Hope & Faith: 54 Days in Hell.”
SAN ANTONIO — Two years after surviving one of the darkest days in Israel’s history, Moran Stella Yanai is turning her pain into purpose.
The Israeli survivor, who was held hostage by Hamas for 54 days, spoke in a room of 240 women at the Chabad Center for Jewish Life and Learning in San Antonio, sharing her story of resilience and emphasizing a message of peace.
On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas militants launched a surprise assault on southern Israel from the Gaza Strip, killing about 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli officials. The coordinated attack targeted civilian communities and events, including the Nova Music Festival where Yanai was selling handmade jewelry.
“This whole happy moment with two rockets in the sky turned into a huge nightmare,” Yanai said, recalling the first moments of the attack.
Amid the terror and chaos, Yanai and thousands of other festivalgoers scrambled for safety. She remembers calling her father as her phone battery ran low while rushing for refuge.
“I said, ‘Dad, this is not a joke. We are being shot at. We need to get out of the cars and hide in the trees,” Yanai said.
Yanai recalled avoiding total capture twice using her knowledge of the Arabic language and wearing an Arabic-inscribed necklace. But she wasn’t a fortunate during the third confrontation. Hamas militants seized Yanai and her family later learned of her abduction through a video clip circulating on social media.
“I really felt they were going to slaughter me on that table,” Yanai said. “But then I saw one of the terrorists putting a cast on my right leg. And I told myself, ‘You’re not dead yet.’”
While held hostage, Yanai endured fear and uncertainty, but she said hope and faith became her lifelines.
“To understand captivity, you have to feel all the rainbows of emotions,” Yanai said. “I knew I was going to go back to my mother. No matter the fear or anxiety, I was full of hope.”
Since her release, Yanai has traveled the world sharing her story, advocating for the return of remaining hostages and honoring those who did not survive.
“My first goal was to bring the hostages back home,” Yanai said. “My second goal is to bring all the non-living hostages back home. My next purpose is to help the young generation as much as I can.” All they see is our group next to another group and everybody is trying to be very protective of his own group. But what about bridging the groups, what about communicating within the groups, what about finding ways of communication that can make everybody feel free.”
Rabbi Chaim Block stressed the importance of Yanai’s story for the community at large that goes beyond focusing on the harrowing specifics of her journey while in Hamas captivity.
“It’s about faith, it’s about resilience, it’s about endurance, it’s about taking this experience and channeling it and turning it into something positive and inspirational and the message that she brings has been so uplifting and so inspiring and that’s really truly the purpose of bringing someone of this caliber to this community.”