The Funeral Of Yossi Sharabi In Be’eri

Until his brother, the former hostage Eli Sharabi, was released from Hamas’s hell in Gaza, we saw his younger brother Sharon almost every day at the Families’ Headquarters. Together with other family members, volunteers, and professionals, he worked day and night to bring the hostages home.

Eli returned on February 8, 2025, after 491 days in Hamas captivity. He came back to a horrific reality: his wife and two daughters had been murdered on October 7, and his brother Yossi had been killed by an Israeli airstrike while in captivity.

After Eli’s return, we saw much less of Sharon at the headquarters, obviously he didn’t have a minute, as his mission now was to be  there for Eli. I only knew Sharon from brief conversations in the dining room, but when our boss organized a “day of comfort” for the volunteers (it was before Eli’s return), he asked Sharon to speak to us.

I don’t remember much of what Sharon said, but I do remember that while he spoke—and afterwards—I felt calm and began to believe that this terrible ordeal would end well. There is something about Sharon’s quiet strength, resilience, wisdom, and sensitivity to others that makes him very trustworthy.

Yesterday, at his brother Yossi’s funeral in kibbutz Be’eri, I saw that this was a family trait. Among the hundreds of mourners who attended, there were many people like me, who had never met Yossi personally, yet the Sharabi family had touched their hearts. From the family’s eulogies, I understood that in that family the greatest value was goodness. And it seems that Yossi, in particular, came into the world to be good and to do good, his brother-in-law Raz said. “Imagine what it feels like to be part of a family where your father and husband truly see you with his heart.”

Most of the speakers promised to continue Yossi’s legacy: to be good and to do good. There is no need to compare this remarkable family with the cynicism of the outside world. But in the spirit of the Sharabi family we must remember that the people of Israel, not its government, fought with all their strength and were instrumental in bringing home the twenty living hostages. Thus I am hopeful that the we can overcome our horrific past and have a better future here in israel.