In early January, a photo of Daniella Gilboa was published in the British Daily Mail, taken on the day she was abducted to Gaza. Alongside it were photos of three other young female captives: Liri Albag, Karina Ariev and Agam Berger. Daniella, only 19 at the time, looked at the camera in tears.
"On the day the photo was published, I was completely shattered," says Shahar Menashe, one of her friends. "I couldn't stop crying. Her frightened look broke my heart. Everything I hadn't been able to express since October 7 burst out of me, so I sat down and wrote her a song."
Menashe, 22, a second-year student at the Rimon School of Music specializing in songwriting and composition, wrote her friend a heartfelt song titled Hold On. Throughout the song, Menashe shares her fears, thoughts and hopes that many can surely sympathize with, even if they don't know a hostage personally.
She debuted her song last Saturday at the opening of a rally for the release of the hostages. "The last time I performed at the Hostages Square, I hoped that Daniella would return soon. Every time, there's a glimmer of hope that there's a deal in the works. But then I realize that Hanukkah had passed, and Purim, and now Passover, suddenly six months have gone by, and Daniella and all the hostages are still there."
She turned 20 three weeks ago
"She entered her twenties in captivity, it's incomprehensible, I'm afraid people got used to the thought that there are hostages there. We cannot normalize this," Menashe says.
Menashe and Gilboa grew up in the same neighborhood and went to elementary school together. They later met again in music class at Ben Gurion High School in Petah Tikva. Both are singers and pianists and have collaborated in various musical ensembles.
"Daniella is one of the most talented musicians I know. Everyone wanted to have her in their band and play with her. I want everyone to know she's an amazing pianist and insanely good singer, she writes and composes emotional and amazing songs. And I really hope that soon everyone will get to hear her."
Despite not being very close friends, Menashe says Gilboa is constantly on her mind. "I think about every little detail related to her, about the fact that she hasn't played in 200 days and hasn't heard music, hasn't written and composed songs. As a musician, I know how hard it is. Even when I go to sleep, I think about her, whether she's sleeping and what she's thinking about. When I sit in class, my thoughts immediately go to what she's doing now. That's what I wrote in the song:
'And I just think about what you're thinking / where you're sleeping / if you're sleeping at all / and what you're eating / if you're eating at all / if they take care of you / when you suffer / if you're cold or hot / if you have a blanket there.'"
Menashe says her friends talk about her a lot, dream about her, and above all, try to be optimistic and imagine the future. "We're all waiting for her and the other captives. I heard that some of the captives listened to the radio in captivity; perhaps Daniella will hear this song in captivity and know that we are thinking of her every moment of the day."