Bar Kupershtein Provided Water and Electricity for Fellow Hostages Under Harsh Conditions

Bar Kupershtein, a combat soldier in the IDF’s Nahal Brigade, returned home this week after enduring months of brutal starvation, torture, and psychological abuse in Hamas captivity yet still found ways to care for fellow hostages, even under extreme conditions.

In an emotional interview with Army Radio, Bar’s mother, Julie Kupershtein, shared stunning details of her son’s resilience. Despite living in darkness, hunger, and fear, Bar built a water channel, dug a waste pit, fixed electricity, and even created a small space in the tunnel for hostages to retreat when they needed privacy.

“He told me, ‘Mom, they beat me, but I didn’t feel it my body was frozen,’” Julie recounted. “He trained his mind not to think about the pain, and that’s how he survived.”

Bar, captured on October 7, 2023, was held with Segev Kalfon, Maxim Harkin, Elkana Bohbot, and Yosef Chaim Ohana, forming a bond that Julie described as "a brotherhood formed in hell." Their captors fed them once a day, if at all. If a flashlight blinked between 2 and 3 p.m., it meant food was coming. If not, it meant they would go hungry again.

Julie recounted the moment she realized how close Bar had come to death a building he was supposed to be held in was bombed shortly before he was moved. “He was saved by a miracle,” she said.

Throughout captivity, Bar drew strength from faith and prayer, often reciting Shema Yisrael and a chapter of Psalms he knew by heart. He also clung to a spiritual vow: to donate 200 shekels he had left at home as an act of charity. “That mitzvah, he believed, would protect him.”

Upon his release, Bar’s first request was simple but powerful: a bowl of Kariot cereal with milk the comfort food he and others dreamed of during captivity. Then came another surprise: he asked to wear tzitzit, the traditional Jewish fringed garment. “He had faith before, but not like this,” his mother said.

Bar’s ability to conceal his military status telling captors he was a medic likely saved his life, though Julie emphasized that all hostages were treated with cruelty, regardless of background.

“He came back stronger, believing, and with a heart full of gratitude,” she said. “After everything, he still believes in life.”

Bar Kupershtein’s story stands as a testimony to the power of faith, resilience, and the human spirit, even in the darkest of tunnels.

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