“I am Omer Shem Tov, and I am a free man.”
That is how the former hostage began –– and ended –– his talk Thursday night at the Osher Marin JCC in San Rafael.
After spending 505 days in Hamas captivity, Shem Tov has been a free man for just over six months.
Released from Gaza in February during a cease-fire agreement, the 22-year-old Israeli has embarked on a speaking tour of the United States. He is spreading awareness about the 48 remaining hostages — 20 of whom are presumed to remain alive — and sharing his story of faith and survival after his abduction on Oct. 7, 2023, from the Nova music festival.
“Throughout all the time that I was there, even on October 7th, I saw miracles,” Shem Tov told about 400 audience members. “Day after day I saw miracles. My faith in God became stronger and stronger every day that I was there.”
Shem Tov’s local visit was a joint effort of the six Chabad centers in Marin County, in partnership with the Osher Marin JCC, the Jewish Community Relations Council Bay Area, StandWithUs and the Jewish Federation Bay Area.
Before welcoming Shem Tov to the stage, Chabad of Marin executive director Rabbi Yisrael Rice led the audience in a recitation of Psalm 20, a prayer for rescue and victory during distress.
Shem Tov recited those words every day during captivity after finding a copy of the psalm among religious literature left behind by Israeli soldiers fighting in Gaza and gathered up by his captors. After his release, Shem Tov discovered that his mother had recited the same psalm every night as she desperately waited for his return.
His mother, father and other relatives did more than wait. Within 24 hours of the Oct. 7 attack, they helped establish the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, a grassroots organization that advocates for the return of the hostages and provides medical and psychological support to their families. Of the 251 hostages taken by Hamas, 203 have returned from Gaza, alive or deceased.
The miracles that Shem Tov referenced in his speech occurred even on Oct. 7 itself.
When Hamas terrorists stormed the Nova festival, Shem Tov, along with friends Maya and Itay Regev, tried to escape with the help of Ori Danino.
Danino had fled the festival but returned to save the three even though he’d met them for the first time just a few hours earlier.
“If it wasn’t for Ori, I wouldn’t be here today,” Shem Tov said. “I believe he’s my guardian angel.”
All four of them were taken into Gaza after two Hamas vehicles caught up to them and gunmen began shooting at Danino’s car, injuring the Regev siblings (who were released in late November 2023 during a cease-fire agreement).
“I can still hear the whistle of the bullets that are right next to my head,” Shem Tov said.
Danino was abducted separately from them. He was executed in a tunnel under Rafah in late August 2024 along with Eden Yerushalmi, Alex Lubnov, Carmel Gat, Almog Sarusi and Berkeley native Hersh Goldberg-Polin.
Before Shem Tov discovered that copy of Psalm 20, he found solace checking in with God, as he would with a friend.
“I would start by saying, ‘God, how are you? How do you feel? How was your day today? Are you OK? Do you need anything? If you do, just tell me, I’ll do it,’” Shem Tov said. “And then I would say ‘Thank you, for the air in my lungs, for the food that I eat’” — even for the meager rations of pita, crackers and salt water he was given.
When he was transferred to a small cell in a tunnel 120 feet underground, he also prayed. There, in total darkness, only fed and given access to a bathroom every few days, Shem Tov begged God to let him survive and leave the cell.
“After 10 minutes, the cell door opens, a terrorist comes in and tells me, ‘Omer, get up, get your things, we’re moving to a new tunnel,’” Shem Tov said.
On Feb. 22, 2025, the day Shem Tov was released from Gaza, the weather was cloudy.
“I looked up to the sky, and it was a rainy day, so the sky was gray,” he said. “But for me, it was the sunniest day of the year.”
When he was finally reunited with his parents, Shem Tov spoke to them in the same way he talked with God.
“I looked at both of them and I said, ‘Are you guys OK? Do you need anything?’”
A little over a week later, the Herzliya resident was on a flight to Washington, D.C., to meet with President Donald Trump to advocate for the remaining hostages.
Shem Tov, likewise, asked Thursday night’s audience to keep the hostages in their hearts.
“Pick a hostage,” he said. “Learn about them, what they like, what they don’t like, their families, everything. Pray for them, send them energy, light Shabbat candles for them. Whatever you can do, just do it. I can tell you that while I was in the darkest point there, I felt the light. I felt the energy. I felt the prayers.”
After repeated standing ovations during his talk, Shem Tov met with dozens of attendees who lined up, eager to share their thoughts, pose for a photo or ask for a handshake or a hug.
“Every crowd that I [meet], it’s like this. It’s amazing to feel the love and support, because it gives you strength,” Shem Tov told J. after the crowd dissipated. “Sometimes it’s overwhelming. But every time it’s a bit rough for me, I remember the hostages, and coming back and seeing how difficult it is for the families. I just cannot imagine it.”
Still, speaking nearly 23 months after he was captured and more than six months after he was released, Omer Shem Tov is a free man.