Israelis with relatives kidnapped by Hamas flock to NYC to pray at the Ohel for their safe return

More than 100 grief-stricken families of Israeli hostages reached the Big Apple Monday night to pray for the safe return of their loved ones at the resting place of one of the most influential modern rabbis.

Relatives of some of the roughly 200 people abducted from Israel and imprisoned in Gaza by Hamas flew from the Jewish state to Queens to gather at the Ohel where revered Jewish leader Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson is buried.

About 300 Israelis, including the family members, religious leaders and others supporting the families, gathered at the monumental tomb in search of hope and comfort as they deal with a “nightmare” that continues every day their loved ones are gone.

Hanan Salfati said he, his wife and two daughters were praying for the safe release of their 27-year-old son and brother, Ofir, who was at the Tribe of Nova music festival with his girlfriend when Hamas terrorists launched their deadly assault on Oct. 7.

As Hamas terrorists were rounding up young women, Ofir brought his girlfriend and seven of her friends to an evacuation zone where a transport van was waiting, but he was not able to squeeze into the vehicle with them, Salfati said.

“That is why we know he will survive. He is strong,” Salfati said, referencing his son’s heroics.

The young man tried to escape by car, but Hamas shot at the vehicle on the highway, killing the driver and another passenger.

“We thought we hadn’t woken up that day,” the father said of hearing the news of the attack. “We felt like it was a nightmare, and we are still living that nightmare. Everything has changed. We aren’t sleeping. We aren’t eating well. Everything has changed.”

Salfati and hundreds of others sat shoulder-to-shoulder in folding chairs affixed with images of their missing loved ones on hostage posters, while even more people stood shoulder-to-shoulder around the periphery of the large tent set up for the event.

They were joined by rabbis and supporters from across the tri-state area.

Schneerson’s resting place is considered a place of deep spiritual sanctity that is visited by hundreds of thousands of Jews throughout the year.   

The rabbi — who is credited with creating a global Jewish renaissance in the aftermath of the Holocaust – was so impactful that he often met with world leaders and became known to many simply as “The Rebbe.”

Family members of the hostages, like Shai Hartman, wrote down prayers on paper to bring to the Rebbe’s tomb.

Hartman, 28, told The Post she had seven family members kidnapped by Hamas when the terrorists ambushed a family gathering last month. Among the relatives taken were her uncle, his wife and two children, she said.

A few family members were killed, she added.

“It hasn’t been a life. We are only waiting for them to come back. We can’t do anything until they are back healthy,” she said. “We don’t want the world to forget that there are 250 hostages held by Hamas.”

Despite the horrors of the last month, Hartman said she is still “100% sure” she will be able to embrace her missing family again.

“They are women, children. How can anyone kill them? I believe they will come back,” she said. “There is no other option.”

Ilan Danaely, a high school administrator from Hebron, came to the US with his wife to pray for the return of their 23-year-old nephew Etan Mor.

The outpouring of support in New York makes the pair feel that they aren’t alone, Danaely said.

“We are a big family,” he said, adding that he appreciates the support President Biden has shown Israel and hopes it continues.

“We don’t just want [our nephew] to come back,” Danaely told The Post. “We want all Hamas gone from here, all those devils. We want to stop them in the whole world. This is not just about [Israel]. This is about everyone in the world.”