A Student's Experience: Rally for Omer Neutra's Second Birthday in Captivity

 by Hannah Fineman, SSLI '25

Today is Omer Neutra’s birthday, marking his 374th day being held in Gaza and his second birthday in captivity. Yesterday in New York City, two events were held to honor his birthday. The first event was a rally and march in Central Park that was run through the Hostage and Missing Families Forum. The second was a basketball tournament held at the Ramaz School to keep Omer and his love for basketball in our hearts. These two events were ways for our Schechter community, Jewish communities, and Zionist communities to commemorate Omer’s birthday and keep him at the forefront of our minds.

The rally in Central Park was extremely powerful. There was a good turnout of current Schechter families, alumni, especially those from Omer’s grade, as well as many other attendees from the Hostage Family Forum and other communities around New York, compiling to over one thousand attendees. However, what was most impactful about this demonstration was not the number of people, but the way everyone was connected for the same cause: to bring Omer home. The sea of people stood united with each other in an attempt to support and comfort one another through this painful time. Not only was this crowd filled with love and hope, but it was also filled with rage, as everyone was clearly tired that, after 374 days, we still have to be chanting Omer’s name. Multiple times during people’s speeches, the crowd would burst out screaming “Bring Omer home!” The strength of the crowd was clear, but you could also hear the pain in everyone's voices.

The crowd was so empowered and moved by the various speakers at the rally. Orna Neutra, Omer’s mother, had a very impactful speech. She began by speaking about the day Omer was born and the joy he brought to her life, as well as Omer's story of Aliyah (moving to Israel) and his commitment to join the Israeli Defense Force (IDF). “How am I supposed to celebrate your birthday once again when you are in the terror dungeons of Hamas?” said Orna, “But hope is mandatory. My perfect boy is not perfect. He has a huge heart. He also has huge smelly feet. My smelly messy boy, we miss you so much. Yes your room is a mess, but your head is all organized with the right priorities: your soldiers, your family, your friends. I pray that your hunger for this world doesn't subside in the harsh conditions of your captivity, that you are strong, and that you are surviving. We pray for miracles for you.”

Omer’s father, Ronen Neutra, also spoke. He said, “We just finished Yom Kippur, and all I can think of is how sorry we are Omer that we failed you, that the leaders of America [and] the leaders in Israel failed you and they failed 101 [other hostages].” Ronen continued to say that Israeli and American authority should be using this time of repentance to reflect and make decisions that prioritize the hostages because that is the only way to atone for the 374 days that have passed since 101 loved ones were stolen from their families, their friends, and their communities.

This rally was extremely emotional, not only because the Neutra family spoke, but the parents of Edan Alexander, another young American hostage, spoke. Throughout their speech, the parents showed their full support for the Neutra family and the cause of bringing all of the hostages home.

The rally ended with a woman who beautifully sang an Israeli song as well as “Hatikvah” (The Hope), the Hebrew national anthem, and touched the hearts of the entire crowd. There were many around me who were brought to tears by her melodic voice.

From a powerful and unifying rally the energy then shifted to a more intimate gathering of loved ones. Later that afternoon, our community gathered at the Ramaz School for a basketball tournament in Omer’s honor. This event had about two hundred people, which mainly consisted of family and friends of the Neutra family, especially those from the Schechter community. Our community gathered and played a basketball tournament to keep Omer and his love for basketball thriving. Throughout this event, there was a screen that presented various pictures and videos of Omer playing all sorts of sports such as basketball, volleyball, soccer, and ping pong. But there was one video that resonated with me more than the others. This video captured Omer and a friend on the volleyball court dressed in their jerseys. The two shook hands, high fived, posed, danced, and jumped in an elaborate handshake that seemed to be a pregame ritual. As an athlete on many Schechter teams, I see my friends and I having handshakes like the one Omer did almost every game. I think that this slideshow allowed people to truly connect with Omer and find how easy it is to fall into his contagious smile. 

Omer's family, former teammates, and former coach standing together in honor of Omer's birthday. (SSLI Instagram)

Later both Orna and Ronen spoke again. Orna spoke about how she sees all of Omer’s friends and family being active on his behalf and that she can feel their love and support. “If you don’t speak up for him, we need you to speak up for him,” said Orna. “We need you with us, and hopefully this will end soon, and he’ll be back, and we will all be able to hug him together.”

One of the most impactful speeches from the basketball tournament was given by Omer’s former teammate Ari Kantorowitz. The two boys played on both the varsity basketball and soccer teams together. Kantorowitz shared, “The basketball team we played on was probably the worst varsity basketball team that ever existed. We won one game in two years. But I have some of the funniest memories of growing up in the van, piling into the van that barely fit our whole team. Going to Manhattan, Brooklyn, and New Jersey during rush hour from hours of traffic all to a game we were probably going to lose by forty points.” He then continued to talk about how Omer would play his heart out on the court even though the team would lose either way. “We always felt like we had a chance because of him,” said Kantorowitz. “Nobody fought like him, nobody took as many bruises as him, and even though we probably lost by thirty [or] forty points, after the games we would be in the van and he was the one picking up everybody. He was making jokes [and] making sure every single person on the van was okay.”

Thereafter, Ronen shared an anecdote from Omer’s time on the Schechter varsity basketball team. During a game, when the ball was up in the air for a layup, both Omer and a teammate went up for the ball. The teammate had accidentally hit Omer, cutting his face and causing him to bleed all over the court. Omer went and saw a plastic surgeon to stitch him back up and, on the way home from the hospital, without anyone else knowing, Omer called his teammate who injured him. Omer told him that he did nothing wrong and that it was all an accident. He wanted to make sure his friend knew that there was no hostility between them and that they were always teammates.

Events like these are important for our community. It is a very tough time, and it is even harder to go through it alone. Not only do we need to go for ourselves, but we must go to support the Neutra family and to support Omer. We can not rest until all the hostages are home. Bring Omer Home Now!

Hannah Fineman is a writer for Paw Print Now and has been published on the site since November 2021. Hannah is currently a senior at the Schechter School of Long Island and can be reached at the following email address: hfineman25@schechterli.org