\n“I don’t blame Hamas, nor do I blame the army for not arriving at the kibbutz in time, nor do I blame the Almighty. It was a blow we received to unite us and understand what is truly important.”<\/p>\n
They Are Breaking Down Our Door<\/strong> I Told My Mother They Killed Sasha; We Said Goodbye \u2013 and That Was It<\/strong> When the militants entered their home, they saw her husband Vitali’s car keys and demanded he hand over the vehicle. “He went out with them\u2014and that was it; I never saw him again,” she recounts.<\/p>\n Hamas took her and the other hostages on foot to Gaza. “We passed a convoy of cars, people with suitcases, with televisions they had stolen, a tractor with captives. But I had no place in any vehicle. When the Hamas members realized there was no option for a ride, they simply said to me: ‘Come, we\u2019ll walk.'”<\/p>\n The Prayers of the Girls in Captivity \u2013 “God, Listen to the Voice of a Little Girl”<\/strong> “Every morning they would say: ‘God, listen to the voice of a little girl.’ Then they would ask: ‘Get us out of here, protect everyone, and bring our families home.'”<\/p>\n I Prayed, and Then I Got a Sign That Sasha Was Alive<\/strong> “The next day, when we landed, I received a video where I saw my son. He was speaking; he was alive. Thank God.”<\/p>\n Hamas Forced Him to Choose a New Name \u2013 He Chose “Yosef”<\/strong> Hamas militants in Gaza | Photo: Khalil Kahlout\/Flash90<\/p>\n “When I heard this, I cried. Every time I prayed for Sasha, I said, ‘You also, Almighty, had one son, and he had a name.'”<\/p>\n A Spiritual Change, “We Started Observing Shabbat”<\/strong> “The greatest embrace we received was from the religious and ultra-Orthodox community. I don\u2019t know how I would have managed without that.”<\/p>\n We Cannot Manage Alone, We Need the Almighty<\/strong> Throughout captivity, Sapir told her that the militants themselves acknowledged the power of the Israeli people when unified. “They let her watch television. When they saw the protests, one of them told her, ‘When you are together, you are strong.'”<\/p>\n I Don\u2019t Blame Anyone, Not Hamas and Not the Army<\/strong> The Message to the People of Israel:<\/strong> Yelena, the mother of Sasha Troufanov, who was kidnapped to Gaza and released in the hostage deal, speaks about the difficult days of captivity, the unceasing prayers, the hope that remained despite the uncertainty, and the faith that gave her strength.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":17399,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[129,85,88,6],"tags":[1476,1477,2337,1482,1480,2909,3378],"class_list":["post-17398","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-judaism","category-positive-moment","category-will-remember","category-security","tag-gaza","tag-hamas","tag-hostage-deal","tag-hostages","tag-israel","tag-sasha-troufanov","tag-yelena-troufanov"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/b.-Troufanov.jpeg\")
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\nYelena recalled that on October 7, the attack did not only begin with the assault on her kibbutz, Nir Oz, but was a wake-up call for the entire Israeli nation. “The situation was challenging even before, everyone knows. It was as if the Almighty gave us a slap to make us realize that we cannot continue like this.”<\/p>\n
\n“I received a message from Sasha: ‘They are breaking down our door.’ The door to the guest room was directly across from our house. My husband and I went to see, and we saw about ten militants breaking down the door and entering inside.”<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/a.-kfar-aza.jpg\")
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\nAt that moment, Yelena was convinced her son had been murdered. “I thought they had killed him. I couldn’t look. I went back inside, sat down, and waited. I knew our turn would come too.”<\/p>\n
\nShortly thereafter, her mother called her. “She said, ‘They are breaking down my door.’ And I told her: ‘They killed Sasha.’ We said goodbye to each other and hung up. I had nothing to do.”<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/a.-sasha-returns.webp\")
\nWhile in captivity, Yelena met Daniel and Amelia, young hostages, and was moved to hear them pray. “Daniel said to Amelia: ‘You\u2019re a girl, and a girl\u2019s voice reaches the heavens faster. Let\u2019s pray every morning.'”<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/irenea.jpeg\")
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\nOne day, while she was in Rome with an Israeli delegation, she asked to see a sign from her son. “I prayed and said, ‘Please show me my Sasha, healthy and safe.'”<\/p>\n
\nWhen he was held captive, the militants prohibited Sasha from using his original name. “They told him, ‘You can\u2019t be called Sasha; you need an Arabic name.’ They gave him a name, but he couldn\u2019t pronounce it correctly. So they said, ‘Choose a name you can say’\u2014and he chose Yosef.”<\/p>\n
\nSince returning to Israel, Yelena and her family have started observing Shabbat and keeping Kosher. “We decided together, I, Sapir (Sasha’s partner), and the whole family, that we would keep Shabbat. Since then, we don\u2019t turn on lights, we don\u2019t travel, we keep everything.”<\/p>\n
\nAccording to her, October 7 proved that the people of Israel cannot fight alone. “We thought we knew everything. We have technology, intelligence, and an army. But when the Almighty said, manage on your own, we saw what happened. We cannot manage alone. We need Him.”<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/reganews.co.il\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/aza-tekes.jpg\")
\nEven after the difficult experience she went through, Yelena does not harbor resentment. “I don\u2019t blame Hamas, they were just a tool in the hands of the Almighty. And I don\u2019t blame the army, they didn\u2019t arrive because that\u2019s how it was decreed from above.”<\/p>\n
\n“The moment we are united, no one will be able to harm us. That is our mission, to be together, to connect, to understand that no one can manage alone.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"