AND HERE’S MODI
AND HERE’S MODI is an inside look at the man behind the microphone. Hosted by comedian, Modi (@modi_live), AHM features a raw and unfiltered side of the comedian rarely seen on stage. He always finds the funny as he navigates the worlds of comedy, trending topics, his personal life and spirituality. AHM is co-hosted by Periel Aschenbrand (@perielaschenbrand) and Leo Veiga (@leo_veiga_).
AND HERE’S MODI
UJA presents: Omer Shem Tov
Episode 151: In February 2024, during the live taping of our 100th episode, Modi was asked who his "dream guest" for the podcast would be. His answer? Omer Shem Tov, a Hamas hostage in Gaza. A year later, on February 22, 2025, Omer was finally released after 505 days in captivity. Tune in to this special live episode, brought to you by UJA Federation New York, as Omer shares his remarkable story of survival, hope, and #MoshiachEnergy.
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Please welcome Periel.
Speaker 2:Ashenbrand, producer and co-host of the and here's Modi podcast. Hi everyone. I was asked to start this by telling you that you're not allowed to videotape anything. So you're not allowed to videotape anything. I'm Perrielle and I am the co-host and producer of the and here's Modi podcast. And for those of you who have no idea why you're here, I'm about to tell you.
Speaker 2:Three years ago, I was sitting in the comedy cellar with Modi when he told me he wanted to start a podcast, but he said he wanted it to be something light. So here we are, three years later, advocating for human hostages to be released from tunnels in Gaza. What could be lighter than that? It wasn't always like this. Historically, we've had the distinct pleasure of having a wide array of incredible guests on. The truth is, is we kind of have our pick? I don't mean to sound immodest, but people want to talk to us, or they want to talk to Modi and they have to talk to me. We get pitched pretty regularly. Have this one, have that one. You should be talking about this. You should be talking about that.
Speaker 2:As a Jewish podcast, we have a lot of Jewish listeners, which means we get a lot of unsolicited advice You're not spending enough time talking about three-legged transgender dogs. You're spending too much time talking about three-legged transgender dogs. It never ends. But Modi's not really that interested in talking about three-legged transgender dogs. Modi is really only interested in talking about a very specific range of topics, and at the top of that list. You might want to answer that I'm sure it's important, but at the top of his list of his all-time favorite topic is something he calls Mashiach energy. What is Mashiach energy, you ask? It is the energy of oneness, it is the energy of us all coming together. But it's more than that too. In every moment, we can choose or not to create Mashiach energy. For example, modi tells me Periel, if you choose to not be such a bitch to the other moms at your son's school, that's Moshiach energy. Sometimes people can be Moshiach energy because they radiate light, because by the very nature of their being, they bring people together. So everyone was having fun and then October 7th happened.
Speaker 2:Immediately we, like so many others, began doing whatever we could to try to advocate for the hostages, and one day I got a message. I get lots of messages, but this one pinged up and it said if you and Modi are interested in helping to advocate to bring Omer and the other hostages home and have one of our family members on your podcast. We need all the support we can get Liat, omer's cousin. She is a lioness. Shortly thereafter we did have her on the show and in fact I have a picture of her and Modi and I from almost exactly one year ago today, holding a poster of Omer. Even from the darkness of the tunnels in Gaza, omer was radiating light. It was no wonder Shelley calls him Yeled Shel Shemesh. So one of the things that happened on October 7th was that it made us, a Jewish community, much stronger. It united us and it bound us to each other. All the way in New York City, we saw Omer everywhere. Even though we never met him, we were bound to him.
Speaker 2:My 11-year-old son and his 5th grade class wrote letters to Omer on Hanukkah the miracle of light. One of the kids wrote Dear Omer, I really hope you can come home to your family soon. Everybody is thinking about you and we hope that these letters will bring light to your life. My son, ari, wrote Dear Omer, we are praying for you to come home. Circle the best one, ronaldo or Messi. Funny, not only did Ari have so much faith that Omer was coming home and that I would be able to get these letters to him, but he also seemed very confident that Omer would answer this question and send the letter back. The innocence of a child or wise beyond his years, omer lit something up in all of us. There was a little boy in Ari's class who passed away of cancer. His mother is actually here tonight.
Speaker 2:When Eli passed, she flew to Israel in the middle of her grief, in the middle of a raging war, and she went straight to Shiva Hospital and, through the fund that she and her family formed, they funded birthday parties for the next 10 years so that every child Israeli and Palestinian with cancer at the hospital will get a birthday party Of all people.
Speaker 2:She met and connected with Shelley on that trip and Omer was released on Eli's birthday. Omer showed us that there are miracles everywhere and we are all connected, and sometimes out of the greatest darkness comes the brightest light. Last year, on October 7th, I stood with Modi and Liat and Rabbi Bellino hi Gav and I said the same thing that I'm saying right now, which is that each and every single one of us must do whatever they can to advocate for the 58 hostages who remain in Gaza. All of this to say that, for all of the celebrities and everyone we've had on the show and everyone who wants to come on the show, whenever anyone asks who is Modi's dream guest, he always said Omer Shemtov. We've been very lucky on this podcast to have so many incredible guests. Yes, but one question that we get all the time is who is Modi's dream guest? Like who?
Speaker 3:would you? Is there somebody in the world today? Yeah, I never am able to answer this question, but lately I'm going to tell you who my dream guest is. There is a hostage in Gaza.
Speaker 2:I think we have a picture of him.
Speaker 3:I don't know, there are many hostages and this one face. Wherever I go, for some reason, I see this on the wall by our house. It was on for a long time and then they painted over the wall. It was on and I said, oh wow, I'm not going to see his face anymore. And then I was invited to the mayor's house for the candle lighting and his family was there with a big poster of him, omer Shemtov. Not only that, he's a spitting image of my closest friend's son. I see him, I see her son and it. See him. I see her son and it. Just if I had any wish right now is that he'd be sitting right here instead of where he's sitting. Thank you, thank you very much, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 3:Welcome to the podcast. We'll start with the bracha. We can't. How do you start this? How do you start this? Baruch atah Adonai Eloheinu melech olam Shechiyanu v'kiyimanu v'giyanu lezman hazeh. Amen, that's it. You see how powerful your words are. You see how powerful your words are. You see how powerful what you wish for it comes true.
Speaker 1:It comes true. Yes, it does, it does. I agree with you completely. Everyone here. Thank you, Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 3:They asked me how are you going to start this, how do you start this interview, how do you start this podcast? The easiest way to start anything is by what the Lubavitcher Rebbe said. You went to the grave of the Rebbe, the Ohel of the Lubavitcher Rebbe and the Lubavitcher Rebbe. People used to stand in line and see him and they would get a dollar from him, and that dollar was to go help somebody else, right? So whenever two people meet, the first thing they should do is discuss how to help somebody else. So he would give them a dollar, and then that was to help, and then he would give them a dollar, and then that was to help with the business, and then he would say blessings and success. Now I am of an age a little bit older than yours, yeah, I beat and was able to actually go and get a dollar from the Rebbe.
Speaker 3:Many times we have a picture of me receiving a dollar from the Rebbe and that exact same dollar I framed for you.
Speaker 1:For me.
Speaker 3:For you.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 3:This is the second dollar of all of my dollars I've given out. My first dollar I gave to my husband and it's in the bottom of his book bag. Kills me every time, but it is what's generating his laptop. So all of the Mashiach, energy of all the shows and everything is for this. So now, who are we going to help 58 hostages?
Speaker 1:58 remaining hostages.
Speaker 3:And it could happen like that. It could happen like that. You happened like that, exactly, yeah.
Speaker 1:You're right, it can happen. Yeah, you're right, it can happen like that. You happened like that Exactly. Yeah, you're right, it can happen. You're right, it can happen like this. It's a consciousness. Yeah, exactly, I feel like we have this power. You know, we can make things happen.
Speaker 3:Absolutely. That's it. With a little energy, it's energy and energy.
Speaker 3:It's Mashiach energy and we see that with UJA, which I swore I was going to stop saying UJA I don't like saying the initials it's the United Jewish Appeal. Do we go ahead, clap, you can clap, for that it is. It's so. It's so huge when you think about it, the United Jewish Appeal. And I explained to the board all of the important people on the board that the appeal is not to the Jews. We're not appealing to the Jews. Can you please send money and make a donation? When you think of UJA, it's a UJA dinner and we're going to ask you for money. It's not. It's not.
Speaker 3:The United Jewish Appeal is the appeal to God. You've given the money. You made your donation. You made your whatever you make a year, you gave it to the United Jewish Appeal to God. We said to God here, here's our money. We're going to go help the forum, the hostage forum that your parents put together, the Jews united, and they gave money to the hostage forum. It's the posters. You see, your face was everywhere. It was Mashiach energy everywhere, every hostage. Is you to be the spokesperson? Are you not the spokesperson? Right now I'm trying to be. You know You're killing it.
Speaker 1:Thank you, thank you thank you.
Speaker 3:You're giving him a round of applause. You're killing it. They bring him every day to five different schools. Then they bring him to a fundraiser of lawyers of New York Could you imagine anything more? And they leave you up there. They just say what was life like before October 7th? He's got to sit there and do a whole Haftorah. You're doing amazing. We're so proud of you. You're the face of the hostages. That it says when you come out of those tunnels, it can be okay, it can be okay. And it's also you're also saying that some of the hostages that came out did not come out okay, it can be okay. And it's also you're also saying that some of the passages that came out did not come out okay, they're going through it. There's a movie out called the Children of October 7. Wow, it lets you know that the work is nowhere near done Nowhere near done.
Speaker 1:Yeah you're right. I do believe that energy and, you know, positive thinking can bring you to great places, as I did, as my mom and my dad have done, yeah, but there are still people that are hurt those who got out and those who are still. You know people that are hurt those who got out and those who are still there. Yeah.
Speaker 1:They're still getting hurt. But I know some people, yeah, some of the survivors, that they just can't go on, and it's not only them, it's their families as well. You know, it's not only them, it's their families as well. So I really feel like we have to keep praying for them, for those who are there and for those who are out there. I feel like I'm blessed. I have a big schut that I can go out and speak and do and I just I thank God. You know it's, I didn't know I have this kind of powers inside of me, but Hashem sent it to me.
Speaker 3:Absolutely. Yeah, hashem put that and you're a kli, a keli, a vessel, and God put that gift inside of you that you can be that person in a generation. You don't understand how deep it is. I'm older than you. I'm a little bit older than you, a bit a bit. Yeah, you are the Elie Wiesel of this generation. Thank you, elie Wiesel.
Speaker 3:When we were in high school, elie Wiesel came to speak at our high schools and told us of the atrocities of the war, of World War II and the Holocaust, and it's incredible. I just spoke to you. You told me now that you've only been out of captivity for just three months and your story is out. When the survivors got out of the camps, they didn't talk about it. No one spoke about what had happened, it was just they kept quiet, they wanted to get on with their lives. And then a big event that happened was the Adolf Eichmann trials in Israel, where the survivors screamed out of what happened. And then later on, we had Elie Wiesel who, like you again, besides telling the story of what happened with his book Night, always had a positive and believed in humanity. And you do I do.
Speaker 1:I do believe in humanity, and you do, I do. I do believe in humanity, I do believe in our way of peace, you know. Yes. But thank you. Thank you for the compliment.
Speaker 3:I'm just bringing it to the surface. I'm letting you know that I'm sitting here with. I'm letting you know what I think I'm sitting with. I'm sitting with this person of this generation. That's unbelievable. And it's the other thing I want to tell you, and you begin to understand this, because you went to the five towns. Yeah, I did. I grew up there Before it became Meir Sharim. It used to not be that religious. It used to be very, very easy. Now you went there and people were asking you for blessings. So I told you there was a rabbi, another big rabbi, that said if you ever see somebody with a tattoo meaning a survivor, and they're still praying, they still pray and believe in God. This is somebody that can give brachot. And so when people come to you and ask you, can you please give us a blessing? It's no joke. It's no joke. You have that ability, baruch Hashem.
Speaker 1:For me it it's no joke, it's no joke. You have that ability. Baruch Hashem, baruch Hashem, baruch Hashem. For me it seems kind of odd to give out blessings. I didn't do it before. I was, you know.
Speaker 1:But yeah, I was driving around with my mom and my dad and my friend Dovi is here in the crowd somewhere I don't know where, and we're driving in five town and my friend is telling me listen, this is like the coldest place on earth. And I opened the windows and he puts like music, yeah, and we drive around and I scream to people on the street Good Shabbos, good Shabbos. And then we stop at this place. There was like 200 people and I get out of the car and they're all asking for blessings, like you've said. And then it was too much for me for a second and I grabbed the mic and I told the speaker Now I will give you all a blessing and I gave them a good blessing for the woman and the man and the briyot. And it's amazing to see that, no matter where you are in the world, you feel the love. Yeah.
Speaker 3:Absolutely the Jewish community. There's nothing like it. There's nothing like it, nothing, nothing. I'm so blessed that this is my audience. This is my audience, this is my audience, and there's 800 that are on a waiting list to come in. I'm telling you, I told you backstage, you have the attention of a nation. You have the attention of a nation. I'm going to give you a secret. Make them laugh. It's not hard. A 90-year-old man marries a 60 year old woman. On the wedding day she says Morris, come upstairs and make love to me. Morris says I can't do both. It's not hard, shelly, did you understand that? It's the words of the Ashkenazis. You know for me.
Speaker 1:It's a bit hard, you understand that it's the jokes of the Ashkenazis. You know, for me it's a bit hard to understand why? Because you know, I'm Moroccan A.
Speaker 3:Moroccan would have gone right up. He would have gone right up. He would have gone right up there. Okay, amen, amen, amen. And, like me, I also, in the middle of the show, I pick up my water and make Shehakol In the middle of. It's the best. We were just in Europe, we just did a show. I just had a show in Warsaw and in Munich and in Frankfurt and in Geneva and Antwerp the reparations tour and we were in Warsaw and there's a museum called Polin, the Polin Museum, and it's a thousand years of the Jewish history. It's a thousand years and the museum is set like this so you see the history of where the Jews were and where they're going and who the this empire and the Ottoman Empire and the Roman Empire and the Persian and the Franco, and where the Jews ended up during all of these. All those empires are gone. There's not one Ottoman. Ever I didn't meet anybody from the Ottoman Empire.
Speaker 1:We don't go nowhere, we, we don't go nowhere. There's not one Ottoman ever.
Speaker 3:I didn't meet anybody from the Ottoman Empire. We don't go nowhere. We don't go nowhere. No, the Ottoman now is what you put your foot on. And Roman Empire Leo and I were in Berlin. We met two guys from Rome but they were not from an empire, they were just from Rome and the Jews. What happened to them and how they got split and we got to where? The Holocaust, and then Israel. And then now I told the woman there's a space now for what happened, October. She says, yeah, they're going to add now a place for the events of what happened. And I said and after that, just leave space. They called it eras this era. Just leave space for the. They called it eras this era, that era for the messianic era. Now we just have to prepare that. We we're, we passed this and now we're going to go into the messianic era. That's what we need. Am I right or wrong? You're right. You're absolutely right.
Speaker 1:I agree. I agree with you 100%. It's this I think everything happens for a reason. Yeah, I always believed, during the time that I was there as well. You know that I'm in this kind of a path. Yeah, God is doing everything for a reason. There is a reason for everything, so I believe we are very close to this.
Speaker 3:Amen, the path, the stories. There are so many of the stories, the ones that got me the story of you getting the Parashat HaShavua of Joseph. Can you tell us?
Speaker 1:what happened? Yeah, so I was in a new place, in a new tunnel, and the army was in the area and it was there for 27 days. And after those 27 days, the terrorists, they went up and they looked around the area to see what they can find, why they can fight, and they brought back some sacks with some food and some stuff and they brought like a pile of book. One of those books was a Dvar Malchut from Chabad with the Parashat HaShavua. And you know, I tell the terrorist. He asked me what are those books? They thought maybe it's instructions for something. And I tell them what the books are and he takes it away from me and I go up to him and I tell him listen, I'll do anything, anything, I'll cook and I'll clean and I'll work as hard as you need me to just let me have this book, this one book, this Dvar Malchut.
Speaker 1:And we had a deal and he brings me this whole pile of books and I opened the Dvar Malchut. And the Dvar Malchut is about Joseph who is going inside the pit and he's becoming the king. At the end of the he comes out and becomes a king, and for me it was. You know, it's like, wow, it's a message from God, you know. So I was imagining myself coming out of the pit and becoming a king and Baruch Hashem, you know I'm here, the pit and becoming a king and Baruch Hashem, you know, I'm here. Maybe I'm not a king, but oh you're a prince.
Speaker 3:A prince, you were buried alive. But you weren't buried alive, you were planted. You were planted like a seed and a king came out. A prince came out. Yes, and you are a prince. They took you, no, like a seed, and a king came out. A prince came out, yes, and you are a prince. They took you. No, a prince, you are Joseph. If you don't know the story, joseph has the brothers. You remember the brothers? They didn't get along. They didn't have a good lawyer, it wasn't good, and they sold him and then they put him into a jail jail and he was there for 12 years, right, 12 years. And then they took him out and he had a dream, whatever it was, and then he became the king of the jail.
Speaker 3:And you, you know, besides having the and he has a million stories like this there were 505 days of stories like this, right, and you know, besides your introduction, there were 505 days of stories like this. Right, you're right and you know, besides your introduction, when we were thinking of, you know, the hostage of 505 days, the son of the founders of the hostage forum as the title of your. Also, you did payroll for Hamas.
Speaker 1:Yes, I did, yeah one time. I did yeah one time. One of the terrorists he comes in and he comes with this big garbage bags, yeah, and he pours out those garbage bags and it's millions, millions of. You know it's Israeli shekel. Yeah, and a bit of dollars as well, and they and I start counting money. You know, I made the payrolls to the Hamas terrorists and it was crazy At first. I wanted to take some for myself, yeah, but I couldn't. I tried, I really tried. So did you package? Yeah, but I couldn't. I tried, I really tried.
Speaker 3:So how did you package it Like? Did they tell you the amounts to put it in?
Speaker 1:Yeah, they told me the amounts and how to divide it, because you know they all want the 200s and the 50s, so I had to divide it like 50-50. So it will be even for everyone. And I counted the money. This is what I did. This was part of my job.
Speaker 3:Payroll. You did payroll for Hamas.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Did they do overtime? Was there overtime pay?
Speaker 1:Over overtime. You know For them. They are depressed, they are, they are. I think they are done. They are done, are I think they're done.
Speaker 3:They're done.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they're done. I've seen them in their worst. I've seen them in their worst, depressed. You know. They didn't give a shit about the money anymore. It's not about the money. They wanted to leave and they couldn't. They're stuck in their own jail cell and with them there's 58 hostages, you know. So I don't think that we can end the Hamas while they're still there. I really do think that we can get them out, and after this they'll make a mistake. Yeah, it's just a matter of time.
Speaker 3:Right, and so one of the things that of course, people asked you and the president asked you did anybody show you any love? Was there any? You know, when you see the stories from the Shoah, from the Holocaust, there was somebody that hid them, somebody brought them food. Was there any of that? Did anybody like connect with you?
Speaker 1:I was okay, so I was very strategic.
Speaker 1:Yeah as soon as I got there to it was after 100 days I was I came to a second tunnel and as soon as I got there I understood that I have to make this some sort of connection to survive. And there was this one. There was this one person. I wouldn't say he was nice, but he wasn't bad as the others. And that's a crazy story, because I didn't understand how he could be a Hamas terrorist. He looked like a Hamas terrorist, yeah, but he loved Billie Eilish. He used to talk about Billie Eilish all day long.
Speaker 3:This is when Leo whispers in my ear. That's the song da-da-da-da-da-da-da Continue. I know who.
Speaker 1:Billie Eilish is. But you know, with all the funny jokes, no, no, no, no. Every time there was a bit of something that I thought maybe there is a bit of humanity there wasn't, it always ended with a curse or with a spit or them bragging of the 7th of October. There was no humanity it's unbelievable.
Speaker 3:so I mean, I don't know, how does this end? How does this? The one thing I? I listened to a podcast for four hours that Jared Kushner spoke and he's the president's son-in-law. He's the founder of the Abraham Accords. He's Ivanka's husband. Yeah, I understood. I didn't know where it would go. And the one takeaway from four hours of listening to this podcast is that everybody has to come out a winner, everybody. They can't be a loser. So when we received you, when you and the hostages that you came out, we won. We got Omer Shem Tov. How many were released with you? 33. 32?
Speaker 1:33.
Speaker 3:Right. So we had a victory, we won. The souls are here. They received 500 people, so they won. Everybody won. Everybody has to come out a winner. They can't be losers, you can't.
Speaker 3:You know Egypt and this hit me the other day too Egypt and Israel have a treaty, years from Sadat and Menachem Begin, that little moment of Moshiach energy that there was, that signing at the White House. One of the reasons I think they have that kind of relationship is because, from the Sinai War, the Egyptian War, israel won, we won. We killed all their tanks, we killed all their air force. We got this and then we gave them back the land. Do you know that in Cairo there's a museum showing that they won? They celebrated they won, wow, that they won. They celebrate that they won. Wow. Gesundheit, you won, you won, you won. As long as no one's shooting anybody and killing anybody. We all won. Exactly, you're right, we all have to. Just it's not, I don't know. Another thing that blew my mind from all the stories you told was the darkness. The darkness Do you want to tell? Yeah, of course I can.
Speaker 1:It's a bit dark there so I don't know, I can't really see there, but after Itay left, it was after 53 days. Itay was a hostage as well, and he was released.
Speaker 3:Your friend, Itai your two friends.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly. So there was Maya and Itai. They're brothers, they're brother and sister, and Maya was my good friend and Itai I've only seen him a couple of times before, and over there we became like brothers. There's no separating us. We're now 24-7 together. But Itay left.
Speaker 1:Itay was released and the first three days I stayed over the ground and I felt like I'm going crazy. I was alone in an apartment. They locked me inside the apartment. I remember there was this big window with a curtain, yeah, and the thing I wanted to do the most is to scream and I couldn't. I couldn't remember me standing in front of this, this window, that it's. It's shaded, yeah, and there's this little bit of a beam of light that's coming through the and I'm feeling it. I'm feeling it on my face and I'm sure I want to scream, but I can't. So I'm feeling it on my face and I want to scream, but I can't. So I'm opening my mouth like I'm screaming and I can't do it.
Speaker 1:And after this, those three days, the terrorist comes to me and he tells me Omer, you're about to leave. And then I thought maybe I'm going home. And I tell him am I going home? And he tells me you're going down and we get to this, abandoned, and we start walking for maybe an hour and we get to a small, small cell, the cell. I couldn't stand in it. If I wanted to stand, I had to crouch, and if I wanted to spread my arms, this is what I could have done, this is the most I could have done. And they throw me inside and they closed the door and I sit there in pitch black. You know it's something that is so hard to imagine. You know darkness. If you go in a room and close the lights and you move your hand in front of your face, you'll see shadows moving. I didn't have those shadows. There were times that I thought I'm blind.
Speaker 3:You didn't know what day, night, nothing.
Speaker 1:Nothing, nothing. And you know it's this feeling of not knowing time and that you don't know what's happening. You try to imagine stuff. I became amazing, my imagination is crazy, but you feel hopeless.
Speaker 3:You were there for 50 days.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I was there for 50 days In darkness, yeah, and was there for 50 days In darkness. Yeah, and the craziest thing for me is, you know, at that time I was in darkness and I didn't have a lot of food. I could see my bones on my shoulder and my rib cage and I didn't shower for 80 days now. But the thing is, I was at my worst point there, but my faith in Hashem just grew stronger and stronger every day.
Speaker 3:Because that's probably when all of the hostage forum stuff was the screaming and the yelling of all of that Exactly.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I really do believe it, that they sent me this, that you guys sent me this energy, the prayers. I really did feel them, you know.
Speaker 3:It's an amazing energy that they had. Everybody that wears a pin and wears a dog tag do you know what it does when you're having a conversation with somebody? We're talking about shtuyot. Hey, the gardener's not going to come until Wednesday and he's not going to this and I'm going to bring. They don't have that flavor of ice cream, yeah, but then they don't have that flavor of ice cream. But someone's in a tunnel, someone's in a tunnel. It just that energy is, I believe, is what fueled you in there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, what you also said at one point some of the terrorists asked you what you thought you were worth yeah, yeah, that that was in my in in our first two days or three days of me and Itai together. Okay, and I'm like because I remember we didn't know that there are 250 hostages. We thought it's only the three of us, my Itai and me. Really.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we didn't know, and me Really, yeah, we didn't know. And they speak about that. There will be a deal very soon. And I remembered Gilad Shalit, a former hostage, was released for, I think, 1,027 Palestinians, right. And I go up to one of the terrorists and I ask him how much do I worth? How many Palestinians, how many prisoners? And he tells me 50, maybe 50, something like this. And I go up to him and I tell him oh so, baba, a week or two we're out, that's okay, everything is okay.
Speaker 3:And, as you know, I was there for 505 days but when you talked about that darkness in that room, I can't even imagine it. And you know, they always say people are in a dark place, you're in a dark stage of our lives, and all that. And then, of course, I go back to the thoughts from the Lubavitcher Rabbi, who always says that if you take a candle on Shabbat these little candles they take away so much darkness. What would you have given to have seen one Shabbat candle just lit in that? Wow, those of you who don't light Shabbat candles, this box is 72 candles and it's about $12, $14. On the Upper East Side it's about $26. But just these little 72 candles that are in here. Light them. Light them and think about the hostages that are there now. Think about whoever you need to send light and give it to. It's such an easy thing. Yeah, you're right.
Speaker 1:It's so easy. It is, it is, it is and it will send so much light to them. You know, yeah, you know, the last week for me there, all throughout the time I did not see my parents at all. And in the last week for me there, I've seen a video of my mom. She's talking about how she wants the women, the Jewish women, to do something for the next Shabbat so I could come home faster, and she asks for them to light a candle or to keep the Shabbat. And you know, it really did something Because, like, a few days later, they get a call that they will bring six hostages the next Shabbat and I was one of them. You know, they could easily, easily, easily the next phase, they could destroy it 100%.
Speaker 3:There's an energy in the world and things shift and change. Exactly Right before you were released, in my life, I was blessed with having a second father, an adoptive father, a rabbi, a rab rabbi and a friend all in one. A Holocaust survivor was bar mitzvahed in Bergen-Belsen and he died moments before they began to say that the hostages are being released. It went in stages. They said hostages are going to be released. Then we were waiting for their names. Then we, you, came out and all of that. But it was a shift when he left this world and then when you came out. So let me get. Can I get the picture of him up here one second? That's him, rabbi Yoichel Gross, rabbi Gross, that's me. And we were at the grave of his great-grandfather and we were there with his great-grandchild. In case you need to understand what Am Yisrael Chaim means. We were there. I took him between the synagogue and to the grave. I was holding him up. He was 94. But when you're holding him, you begin to understand he's holding you up. Yeah, wow, just in case you know. And he when he passed away you can go back to the screen when we passed away, we had the Shiva. This was right before you were getting out, and during the Shiva, people talk about what happened with him. The stories come up and they were saying that when the doors to the camps opened, he was standing there with his pajamas, with lice, and that's all he had. That's all he had. He had no idea where his family was. He had no idea he didn't have a country. He didn't have a country that says you're a citizen of our country. He didn't have an army. He didn't have anything.
Speaker 3:So when you were released, I was watching that video this is after we had all the conversations about him and I see Omer Shant, merchant of, coming out and there's an army to pick you up. This time the IDF came to pick you up. You had a country to go to, you belong. You had a to that zealot. You had a dark on. You had a passport. You have something that says your name on it and the country you belong to. You knew where your family was. You knew there were two ambulances behind you. There was Magenta, vida Dome and United, hatzalah, hatzalah, united. Whatever the check clears either way, that picked you up. And so after every show I sing Hatikvah. And when I saw the video of you getting out and having a country to go to, an army that picks you up, ambulance services, family.
Speaker 3:I began to sing Hatikvah a little bit different, the line where it says Odlo avda tikvatenu, which means we haven't lost our hope. So I change it to into a question Od lo avdat tikvatenu, hasn't our tikvah? Instead of hope, saying worked, hasn't our tikvah worked? We have all of this, it's in place. We have a country, we have a country, we have an army, we have a nation. We have a country, we have an army, we have a nation, we have a Torah which makes us the Jewish people, and we have a Knesset. We have a Knesset and it's not the building that's in Jerusalem, it's the hostage forum. It's the hostage forum. Applause, applause, applause. Knesset Israel, it's the hostage forum. Thank you, knesset Israel is not from the Torah, it's from the Midrash.
Speaker 3:Knesset Israel, the assembly, the assembly. When I went to the hostage forum and saw people standing there and screaming on the highway, on the Ayalon, tens of thousands of people screaming for justice, for bring back, for Moshiach, energy. That's Knesset Israel, that's the assembly, that's the United Jewish Appeal to God. Put those two letters in there. You're supporting the forum, you're supporting the to God 're supporting the to God. You're not making a donation. You're a member of the assembly Knesset Israel, you're a member of this assembly, and that's and that's we have. That it's in place.
Speaker 1:Amen, amen, amen to this. It's in place.
Speaker 3:Amazing, that was good, huh yeah it was. That was better than huh yeah it was.
Speaker 4:That was better than I thought it was going to come.
Speaker 3:You gave me chills. Look, I also got chills from it. No, Knesset Yisrael is us.
Speaker 1:No, you know it's. You're right, because I see my parents, I see the families and they want us to be united. That's what they want. They don't separate. And this is who we are. We're supposed to be united because we're the strongest when we're together. We're the strongest there's no doubt about it.
Speaker 3:If the Jews got along, if everybody was a member of Knesset Israel, there would be no war in Ukraine, there'd be no war anywhere in the world. If we just the consciousness of Knesset Israel, of putting it together, just the harmony and the Mashiach energy. One goal the goal is to live in a Messianic era. Everything else to get there. So that's what the? It's not that building in Jerusalem where everybody's grabbing for different energies, it's the energy of unity, which is what your mother is. I mean your mother. I'm looking at her. I mean I mean, and your father, father, of course.
Speaker 3:But you know there's a song, a Yiddish Mamed. You know that song or no? A Yiddish Mamed. There's a line in there in Wasser und Feuer, in water and fire, through water and fire, she'll go looking for her child. Nicht halten ihr teuer, das ist gewesen der größte to not hold her child is the biggest sin that a Jewish mother could have. What you did, the way you screamed and the way you went, you changed my prayers. When I'm the chazan in the synagogue, there's a section that says horrible. I love Ashkenazi prayer. That's the worst song we have. Do you understand the words that are being said there? Because of watching you scream in the Knesset. Do you understand the words that are being said there? Because of watching you scream in the Knesset, I change it. I said Mechalkel Chaim Bechesed, mechayim, Meitim, berachmim, rabim, so Mechnoflim, ve'rof Echolim, u'matir, u'matir. And then I scream in the synagogue my rabbi's here, I just stand there and scream. You scream, scream for what we want. Except, I do have a gift for you, for people I love I give them a framed mezuzah.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 3:Because you know it's good to have in the house a framed mezuzah, especially me, because my mezuzot are all in plastic, so when my friends come over it goes. Why is there a joint on your door so?
Speaker 3:so and goes why is there a joint on your door? So I buy these mezuzot and I have them framed, and Shelly Malki and the entire Shemtov family, yo, your brothers and sisters are they dying that you blew up like this? Are they like what Is he? Formula One Prayerful wishes for much success and Moshiach energy in everything you do. Put that here too.
Speaker 1:How are we doing? I didn't know it was my birthday today. It's crazy. Every day is your birthday.
Speaker 3:Every day is your birthday. I hit everything I wanted to say. You went to visit the president. Yeah, I did. How was that? Every other thing? I've seen you talk. You're giving stories of all of your.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's a bit unusual. For me it's a bit different. Normally I speak, you know it's a bit sad, it's okay. The only thing I really like to talk about is the end. You know, because it's a good end, yes.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:So you want me to tell the story of what, of the ending for me of being in captivity? Yeah, you. So the end of the story starts at the last three days. At the last three days, at the last three days, I get to see, for the first time after 500 days, two other Israelis. Sorry, three other Israelis. I get to see Eliyahu Cohen, omer Venkert and Tal Shoram.
Speaker 1:I get out of the tunnel and the terrorists they grab me by my arms and I walk in Gaza at night. I hear people going by me and I'm so scared and we get to a vehicle and they put me inside. I'm blindfolded and they tell me to crouch. So I sit down and I crouch and I don't speak. I understand that there are two terrorists sitting in the front of the vehicle and then suddenly I hear one of the terrorists went Elia water. And I'm thinking to myself my name is Omar, I'm not Elia. And then I hear from next to me yes, please. And it's the first time I understand there's next to me. And in that moment my heart was pounding. And we get to this house and we get inside and they lock us inside a room and we're still blindfolded. And then we started talking to each other, but we were whispering, so we talked about you know everything, what's your name and where have you been and what's your experience. And then suddenly we hear the door opens and we don't speak anymore.
Speaker 1:And then I hear two more voices, new voices, and it was Tal and Domo van Kelt, and we're sitting inside this room. They locked us again inside the room and we're all blindfolded and we're whispering to one another. Yeah, what's the story? And I'm trying to imagine to myself how they look like. Yeah, and after we were maybe eight hours, we were blindfolded. They took us to a tunnel and inside the tunnel they took off our blindfolds. And first I looked at Elia, and Elia looks kind of okay to me, looks kind of healthy to me. And then I looked at Tal and Omer and the first thing that comes to my mind is the Holocaust survivors, the pictures we all know. They were so, so thin. Omer, I think, he lost 15, excuse me, 79 pounds, and Tal was almost the same as Omar.
Speaker 1:And you know, the last month from there, since the ceasefire began, they started to give me more food. They gave me a lot of food. I came out, I got to Israel, I was 36 pounds less, but the last month I gained, I don't know, maybe 25 more pounds. And so I'm sitting there and the terrorists they come up and they give us sandwiches and I couldn't eat. I just gave it to them because I saw them and I was in shock. I couldn't speak, I didn't know what to do. And I see them dividing the food. Like me and the Thai, we used to do like I was doing at the first tunnel. I was dividing the only biscuit I had in a day. I was dividing throughout the day and I was so, so shocked. And after a day they moved Tal to another area and Omer and Leah and I, we stayed together and in that period of time we talked about everything. All the 505 days that I wanted to speak with someone, I just took it all out and in some sort of way we had some fun.
Speaker 1:And on the last day of our, we get this uniform and we put on the uniform and they put on blindfolds and we start walking out of the tunnel and as we get to the exit of the tunnel we stop there and then we wait for a bit and I hear Elia saying she'll, am I lot? Yeah, he's like you know, very quietly he says it and then he stops and then I start singing it, but loudly, and it's the three of us standing at the exit of the tunnel and singing loud and proud. And then we get out of there and we get inside the vehicle and we drive around Gaza for hours and I'm thinking to myself it's not going to happen anymore, and I did not sleep for 24 hours now and I couldn't sleep at night and I fall asleep and after a few hours, I think, I start to hear that I hear the door open and I start to hear Allah is the Greatest, allah is the Greatest. I hear the door open and I start to hear Allahu Akbar, allahu Akbar. And I see so many people and they take me out of the vehicle and I remember, first, omar is going up the stage and I was after Omar and they gave me this Hamas diploma. Yeah, and I'm getting up on the stage and I'm holding this diploma. Yeah, and I'm getting up on the stage and I'm holding this diploma, this graduation diploma, very proud. And I was in such a high, I was smiling, yeah, and something crazy, yeah, that no one knows. Yeah, on the other side of the cameras that were filming us I guess Hamas tells the citizens the names or something On the other side, I see hundreds of Gazans, of Palestinians, and they scream oh, omer, and I'm standing there and I don't know what to do.
Speaker 1:And suddenly comes this van and it stops right in front of the stage and the van doors they open and I look inside the van. I didn't understand and I see two people there. I didn't understand. And I see two people there and they were so thin and I see them grabbing their heads and crying. And I understand these are two other hostages. They were Eviatar and Guy and the Hamas terrorists. They made them watch us leave while they stay there and the door closes and they drive away and after a few minutes we we get down from the stage and we go inside the Red Cross vehicle and we start driving towards the IDF safe zone. And as we get closer I start to see tanks and the doors of the tanks they're open and I see heads of soldiers popping out and they're waving at us and I see some other vehicles popping out and they're waving at us and I see some other vehicles.
Speaker 1:And then we get to the IDF safe zone and I remember the door opens and I'm looking outside, I'm looking at the sky and I'm looking at the soldiers around me and I'm shocked and in front of me standing this officer, her name is Daria and Daria welcomes me and she tells me Omer, you're home, everything is okay. Now you can relax your mom and dad, you'll see them soon, they're waiting for you. And I look at her and I tell her Can I please hug you? After those 505 days that all I needed was a hug, was a bit of love. I got it at this moment and she gave me this amazing hug. We hugged and after a few minutes I let go. And then we go inside a vehicle and this is not part of my story, but this is a part of Elia's story.
Speaker 1:I remember we're going inside the vehicle and Elias is sitting in the back. Elias, when he was kidnapped, he was inside a shelter inside a Megunit and inside the Megunit they throw grenades and he was with his girlfriend and they survived by. He thought he survived by holding the bodies, you know, above him and the terrorists took only him. And when he got on the truck he saw one of the terrorists going inside the meagre neat and shooting all over the place, while his girlfriend is inside, his fiance sorry, his fiance is inside. And I see Elia sitting in the back of the van and his officer that he got. He tells him listen, elia Ziv, her fiancee. She's okay, she's alive and she's waiting for you, and I'm thinking about it right now. I want to cry. I've seen his, the relief on his face you know, it's okay, it's okay.
Speaker 3:You have a hug and love from everybody here.
Speaker 1:And I only know him for a few days, but I felt so connected to him. And we drive off to Israel and while we're, all of us were crying inside the van and we get to Reim base it's next to the Gaza Strip and there I get a room. I'm sorry, I see my dad crying, I can't. And we get there and they give me this room and I take a shower and I see my clothes after a very long time and after I finish I see Daria and she tells me Omer, are you ready to meet your parents? And I'm telling her of course I'm ready. What do you mean? And she takes me to this living room and I sit on a couch and I'm sitting like this on the edge of the couch and there's this little crack on the door. The door was open for a bit and I'm waiting and I'm looking at this crack and every person that goes by I'm ready to jump on him. And after a few people that went by, the door opens and, as you've seen in the video, my parents go in and we run up to each other and we hug and the first thing that I'm saying to them are you guys okay? And my mom she's like are we okay, are you okay? And it was pure, pure happiness, pure happiness. You know, I've never felt this much joy in my life.
Speaker 1:And we stayed there for maybe 20 minutes or so and then they tell us okay, you have to go to the hospital now. And they take us in a helicopter. And while we're inside the helicopter, one of the soldiers gave me this whiteboard to write something on it so I could show the media, so people would know, and I write everything is fine now, and I'm doing this smiley face like my tattoo, and I show it to the camera and then it takes it away. And then I tell him wait, listen, give it to me one more time. And I write PS, I want a burger. And we get to the hospital and over there that they're waiting thousands of burgers, thousands, okay, from all over Israel. And we gave it out to the, to the. I had my first burger in a very long time. Yeah, I want to hear you clap. And also there I met my brother and my sister. It was okay, you know.
Speaker 3:It's amazing. You're out of there and now there's a future. Don't forget the first thing you are the representative of what happened. You are the child of the formers of the hostage forum. You are their child. That is such a schut. You have the ability to give blessings to everybody. Baruch Hashem, and give those blessings. Give those blessings to every go to bed at night, thinking every one of those hostages. Tomorrow your phone's going to turn around and they're being released, and you also Amen amen, amen, amen Every night, when you close your phone, put it down.
Speaker 3:You say tomorrow I'm going to pick this up and the first thing I see is that there's a release, a ceasefire, whatever they call it. And you also want to be an actor? Yeah, I'm going to rephrase it You're going to be an actor. Yeah, you're going to be in it. Exactly, I'm going to tell you one thing being a hostage for 505 days in the tunnel, I can almost guarantee you you're never going to have to audition For nothing. No casting beans. Who do we think for the role of the brother, omer Shemtov? Bring him in for an audition, audition. He's going to audition for you. 505 days he was in a tunnel. He's going to audition for you. Just call his name.
Speaker 1:I just spoke about it, I don't remember who. Today my friends are using it so much. You know you should be ashamed of yourself. What he was a hostage, yeah yeah, everything, everything yeah. I have a friend who is like the big. I'm a big Maccabi fan, yeah, yeah, and he's like the biggest Maccabi fan Right, right yeah. And he wanted to get tickets to a game. Oh yeah.
Speaker 1:And he tells them. He tells the guy um, I need a few tickets. And he's like, listen, it's hard to get. And he's like he tells him, listen, it's for Omer Shemtov. And the guy, the guy tells him Omer Shemtov. And he tells him yes. And he tells him listen, I have to check, I don't know. And he was really stressed. And he tells him listen, I have to check, I don't know. And he was really stressed and he tells him aren't you ashamed?
Speaker 3:Yeah. For 505 days, you anti-Semite bastard, you Get him a table, get him whatever he wants. Ay, ay, ay.
Speaker 1:And he gives me his tickets, you know.
Speaker 3:No, you've been busy with the formulas and schmormulas.
Speaker 1:Yeah yeah, enjoy every minute of it, enjoy every minute of it.
Speaker 3:May every family that has a hostage see that this is what's going to be with their amen.
Speaker 3:I'm going to round this up.
Speaker 3:You were at the president's office and you thanked him and you know, when I was going to the tour in the in the Poland Museum and you saw all the different world leaders and what they were doing with the Jews and what was happening, one thing that came to mind to me was that there's a world leader today, whatever the opinions are and whatever it is, but there is a world leader, not a president of a country, he's not the president of France, he's not the president of Canada.
Speaker 3:He's a world leader who understands that Jews are not something you throw to the side or put into a ghetto, or that they're a part of the equation, of the success, whatever success you're looking for, I'm just saying, but it's a world leader who has grandchildren who are going to be walking on the college campuses of Columbia and Harvard or all of those other places, which is, yeah, it's what it is. It's what it is I don't know what your views are, but that's currently happening in the world that there is a world leader that has a respect for Jews and the never again we're going to end with that, the never again.
Speaker 3:Never again is an expression that we have in America. I don't think it's in Israel. No, not really. It's like a nervous tick. Americans have Never again, never again, never again is an expression that we have in America. I don't think it's in Israel. No, not really. It's like a nervous tick. Americans have Never again, never again, never again, never again. And then it happens the next day. It happens again, exactly Never again, never again. Boom, october 7th. It happened again. Yeah, when I told Rabbi Gross, when we were telling him what happened on October 7th, he knew that was going to happen. He knew that that happens Tomorrow. There's going to be some swastika on a synagogue. The never again that is in the world now is that you don't get to destroy Jews and get away with it. Exactly destroy Jews and get away with it. Exactly 1300. 1300 Jews were destroyed and they lost everything they have. When you were driving around Gaza, did you see the destruction? Yeah, I did Everything.
Speaker 1:Was that worth it for them?
Speaker 3:Everything. So that's the never again. College campuses here. There's students on these college campuses that are being tortured. They can't get to class and now the people that organized the terror on those campuses, the people that organized, lost their visas, lost their scholarships. That's the never again. When you were in the beginning of your hostage situation, there was a win in Harvard, mit and UPenn, harvard. You know that I almost went to Harvard. I went, I had a conversation with them after what they said to me. Even back then I knew I wasn't going to go there. They said we don't want you, but that's besides the point. But they had one day. They had the presidents of all of these colleges, of Harvard, mit and UPenn. These are the top schools. They had three women. Who, not one of them has a gay friend, not one Suspicious.
Speaker 1:No, I would be suspicious. Yeah, I would be suspicious. Yeah, I would be.
Speaker 3:They sat there in front of the Senate and the Congress and whoever was interviewing them, no one had a little makeup on, no one had a little contour and they couldn't say that it's not, that it's not okay to bully and to mistreat Jewish kids. They couldn't say it, they couldn't get the words out and they lost their jobs. That's the never again. So that gives you hope. That gives you hope that we, as a nation of Jews, as a nation of Jews, that's the never again. That's the never again. I'm sure you have restaurants you're going to after this. You haven't stopped, you haven't stopped and we thank you. Every school you've gone to, every event you've been to, showing your face, giving everybody hope. Thank you so much. There is an event tonight. Thank you so much. There is an event tonight. The United Jewish Appeal to God is having a pride event downstairs and I'm so honored to be gay.
Speaker 3:I'm so honored to be a part of it and we're going there. And is there anything else you want to tell everybody? Is there anything?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'll finish off in a serious note.
Speaker 3:One second. Okay, underneath your chairs there are very, very nice QR code cards. Am I saying that right? Yeah, a card with the United Jewish Appeal to God, and you can take a moment and not now, because it takes a lot of time. It's an effort to scan that thing without Leo next to me.
Speaker 1:I thought you were going to say you get a car, you get a car, you get a car and car.
Speaker 3:You get to make a donation and become a member of the assembly. You get to make a donation whatever it takes. I'm going to end also by thanking my husband. Amazing, all of this, all of this, all of this could not happen. There is a Not Jewish. He's not Jewish, he's an ally. Leo has done more for the Jewish community than many Jews Tour dates and functions and fundraisers and everything. And he does it from a place of love and a place of understanding that when you help others, it comes back to you. Amazing, we love you, leo.
Speaker 1:We love you.
Speaker 3:There he is, leo, take a step out for a second. Come here. Step out, boina. I feel like Vanna White. Take a step out for a second, come here. Step out. Boyna, I feel like Vanna White. Leo, this is my neshama, my baby, and you'll give us the last thought and then we're going to sing her tikvah together. I've just sung it in Warsaw, in Munich. I'm singing it now with a hostage and with the people who created the forum and the United Jewish Appeal to God people.
Speaker 1:So go ahead. For me, I'll just say that, first of all, thank you. Thank you for being here, thank you for supporting. We got 58 more hostages there Today. It's 600 days. 600 days today. Yeah, today, 600 days, 600 days today. Yeah, today, 600 days. And we cannot forget. They're going through hell.
Speaker 1:Yeah there they are. I want you to look at those pictures and remind yourself that these are not just pictures, these are not just posters. These are humans, these are Jews, these are no matter what. I want you to choose one picture, choose one picture. Learn about that person, learn about this hostage, really get to know him, you know, see what he likes, what he doesn't like, everything, everything, everything. And I assure you that whenever you pray for him, it will bring him this big light, it will bring him energy. So, please, don't stop praying. Do whatever you can, speak with every you you know, just spread the word around and do anything you can to do it.
Speaker 3:Absolutely Light, a Shabbat candle.
Speaker 1:Exactly. Put them in your head, exactly, exactly. And I have to say one more thing we were going to sing the Tigva. Yeah, you know, every time, ever since I got back, the Tigva for me got a lot new, like a new meaning, absolutely A new meaning. You know, because there is a Tigva, there is, like you've said now.
Speaker 3:Oh look, yeah, we're sitting together. All I just Like you've said now, oh look, we're sitting together.
Speaker 1:All I just did was ask for it Exactly so my tikvah is to see the whole home Amen. And who knows, maybe we could do a special episode. You know me and you and all the other hostages.
Speaker 3:Speaking of special episodes. When you end the podcast, you'd let them know where they can reach you, so what's the best way if anybody wants to reach out to you? That's, that's how you end the podcast. Okay.
Speaker 1:Please subscribe to my YouTube channel, okay. No no, no, I have an Instagram, if anyone wants. I'm not here to promote myself or anything.
Speaker 3:What the hell is a podcast for.
Speaker 1:I'm here to promote Liat Korin.
Speaker 3:That's it. Liat, the Hostage Forum and the United Jewish Appeal, exactly, exactly. I have two mortgages to pay, so I'm going to be. Wow, you have a list there and let me tell you this list. This list is a list I would give to Rabbi Gross. Wow, I would always tell, and you know that I called him before every show. Or he called me before every show. He would say Hatzlacha G'dayla, hatzlacha G'dayla, you're my new survivor, you're my new. I'm not going to call you before every show. You can call me whenever you want, but I'm letting you know we are on tour.
Speaker 3:Let your friends know that there is time to laugh. Pause for laughter. Be the friend that brings their friends to the comedy show. Get some tickets to a comedy show. Get your friends. Whoever brought you here tonight, shkoyach, good for you. Shkoyach, yeah, shkoyach, make fun, things happen. I'm not gonna go through all the dates, but we have some dates in your hoop. It's like Indianapolis, columbus, omaha, Nebraska, kansas City. Then we're going back to Europe for Vienna, Amsterdam, berlin and Paris. Then we're going to be in Israel, in Jerusalem, november 27, and Tel Aviv November 29. You are invited to open all of those shows. Thank you, thank you, thank you If you're around.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much.
Speaker 3:All of you sitting here, all of those shows. Thank you, thank you, thank you If you're around. Thank you so much. All of you sitting here, all of you sitting here, my New York audience April 23,. We are all going to be at Radio City Music Hall. Get your tickets. They're going to be available soon, but put that in your book. April 23, 2026. Yeah, that's it sing. Shall we please rise? We're going to sing the Hatikvah together. I can't thank you enough.
Speaker 4:Shabbat Shalom, zion, sophia, oh, don't let our hope, the hope of the years of the 40's To be free in our land.
Speaker 3:Thank you all very, very much for coming. Am Yisrael Chai V'kayam.