Good Samaritan Celebrates Hanukkah: Mother of Israeli Hostage Invited to Speak

Religious leaders, elected officials, and residents for Good Samaritan Hospital, gathered on Monday to celebrate the hospital’s Annual Menorah Lighting Ceremony.

The celebration took a turn for the somber when Miri Ben Ami, the mother of Yosef Ohana, one of the hundreds of people forcibly abducted during Hama’s surprise attack on Israel on October 7, spoke about the heartbreak her family is enduring.

Describing her son Yosef “as a good man loved by everyone who knows him”, Ami shared her hopes that her son and his fellow hostages will be released, while recounting her horror at discovering that Yosef had been kidnapped. Ami was informed that Yosef was captured during the Re’im music festival massacre, which took place during Hamas’ incursion into Israel last October .

The distraught mother first heard the news from a friend of Yosef’s who had also attended the festival and had escaped the terrorist attack by hiding under a car. Yosef’s status was confirmed by Israeli officials on October 8.

The ceremony was made possible in part thanks to a donation by Meyer Tauber, a lo- cal small business owner, who provided Good Samaritan with a large menorah for public display.