When his son, Yonatan Samerano, was abducted from the Nova music festival to Gaza, Kobi Samerano’s life changed in an instant. Instead of retreating into private grief, Samerano chose a public path centered on connection, identity and faith — a journey that in recent days has gained momentum through practical initiatives in the heart of Tel Aviv and is linked to the “Tzav HaChaim” initiative.
These days, a Torah scroll is being written in Yonatan’s memory at the site of the Nova festival. For the Samerano family and their partners in the initiative, the place where the lives of many young people were brutally cut short has become a space of creation and living remembrance. “Precisely from the place where everything stopped, we are writing letters of eternity,” Kobi Samerano says.
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Kobi Samerano (left) at a ceremony marking the writing of a letter in a Torah scroll in memory of his son, Yonatan
(Photo: Courtesy)
Yonatan Samerano was abducted during the terror attack on the Nova festival on October 7, 2023. For many weeks he was listed as a hostage held in Gaza, as his family lived with uncertainty, hope and daily anxiety over his fate. The family was later informed that Yonatan had been murdered and that his body had been returned from Gaza to Israel. The devastating news closed a chapter of agonizing waiting and opened a new reality of profound bereavement, which has accompanied every step of the personal and public journey his parents have since chosen.
The Torah scroll in Samerano’s memory is not intended to remain merely a symbolic project. Once completed, it is expected to be placed in the Great Synagogue on Allenby Street in Tel Aviv, as part of an ongoing process of restoration and renewal of the site. Until then, a temporary sanctuary bearing Yonatan Samerano’s name has been established, and all synagogue activities are held there.
The activity surrounding the synagogue reflects a broader vision led by Kobi Samerano: fostering an accessible Jewish identity for everyone in the heart of Tel Aviv. The renewed synagogue operates without rigid definitions or prerequisites. “You can come however you want,” Samerano says. “Everyone is welcome.” The space aims to offer a sense of belonging even to those who feel distant from traditional religious discourse.
The link between personal mourning and public action also connects to the “Tzav HaChaim” initiative, through which bereaved families choose to add life by inscribing letters in a Torah scroll, engaging in community activity and building an identity that bridges old and new, faith and urban life.
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Torah scroll dedication for Ran Gvili and start of writing in memory of Samerano
(Photo: Courtesy)
Alongside Kobi Samerano’s work in Israel, Yonatan’s mother, Ayelet, is active internationally as part of advocacy efforts around the world. Each family member has chosen a different mission, but the message is shared: the profound loss will not define the entire story.
Yonatan Samerano is gone, but his name is written not only in personal memory, but in the letters of a Torah scroll and in a sanctuary that invites people to enter, connect and find belonging. The grief remains, but for his father it has become a starting point for a journey of connection, faith and life, chosen anew each day.