Rav Berland Promised to the Father of the Captive Ran Gvili

The promise of the holy tzaddik Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a to the father of the final hostage, Ran Gvili, who returned today from Gaza after 843 days.

On the morning of the Black Sabbath - Shemini Atzeret 5784, Staff Sergeant Ran Gvili did not wait for orders. Despite being on sick leave with a broken shoulder, the 24-year-old YASAM fighter put on his uniform and went into the inferno. He saved dozens of revelers from the Nova party and fought heroically at Kibbutz Alumim, where he fell in battle and his body was abducted to Gaza.

For 843 days, Ran Gvili was defined as the last hostage remaining in the Strip, until he was rescued today in a military operation and brought to burial in Israel. Ran Gvili, known as the "Shield of Alumim," became a symbol of supreme self-sacrifice – the warrior who went out first to save lives and returned last to the land of the country he defended with his body.

We are now publishing for the first time that about two weeks ago, on the night of the 25th of Tevet (1/13/2026), Itzik Gvili, the father of the hostage Ran Gvili, came to our teacher, Rav Berland shlit"a, to receive his blessing for the swift release of Ran Gvili.

Our teacher, the Rav shlit"a, strengthened him, and among other things, instructed him: "Read Parshat Vayeshev about Yosef the tzaddik who was in the dungeon; read the parsha every day, and in Shevat he will be released."

The hostage's father asked our teacher, the Rav shlit"a, if there was a chance that his son, Ran Gvili, was still alive. The Rav answered him with a strengthening smile: "Whoever is kidnapped is always alive, just like our Rebbe - Rebbe Nachman is always alive!"