Mother of Israel hostage will speak Saturday at Palm Beach Synagogue
Daughter, 19, kidnapped in Oct. 7 Hamas attacks
An Israeli woman whose 19-year-old daughter was kidnapped during the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks will speak Saturday at Palm Beach Synagogue.
Adi Marciano, 46, who lives in the central Israeli city of Modi’in, will share her daughter’s story with congregants during Shabbat services, Rabbi Moshe Scheiner said. Her niece, Paz Amar, 24, will join her.
Marciano was invited to speak in Palm Beach after Scheiner visited a hostage center in Tel Aviv early this week. Scheiner and three other rabbis traveled to Israel to support those affected by the Hamas attacks.
“When we went to the hostage center in Tel Aviv to visit the families of the hostages, they all pleaded with us to go back to Florida and raise awareness about the plight of their loved ones abducted into captivity in Gaza,” Scheiner told the Daily News.
“They asked to speak to all the powers that have influence to pressure Hamas to free the hostages. They want us to speak out and speak up on their behalf in America.”
Services begin at 9:30 a.m. and are open to the community. Marciano is expected to speak before services conclude at noon.
Marciano’s daughter, Noa, was at the Nahal Oz kibbutz in southern Israel when Hamas launched its attacks against Israel last month.
As relayed to Scheiner, Noa called her mother at 6:30 a.m. to tell her the kibbutz had been attacked and she and her friends were in a “migunit,” or bomb shelter.
“In the background I heard the shots and loud booms,” Marciano said. “I told her to close the door. She explained to me that there is no door in the migunit. At 07:30 I called again. She whispered to me that she should be quiet and hung up. That’s the last time I heard from her.”
Marciano, who has four children, said she and her husband received a photo the following day of Noa and her friends in handcuffs. The photo had been shared by Hamas through social media, she said.
“In the picture, you can see that Noa is still wearing a pajamas,” she said. “We don’t know what her condition is. Does she have glasses? Does she have shoes?”
Palm Beach Synagogue is at 120 N. County Road.
Jodie Wagner is a journalist at the Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network.
You can reach her at jwagner@pbdailynews.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.