Freed hostage Eliya Cohen spoke at a Purim party at the home of Ba’al Chessed Shai Graucher and described how what he thought was the worst thing that ever happened to him was the catalyst for his release.

Eliya explained how exactly three years ealier, at a Purim party, he experienced a seizure and was diagnosed with epilepsy.

“I arrived at the hospital in bad condition. It started a a very difficult period in my life. Many bad things happened to me. I kept asking Hashem—why? My grandfather died a week later. I was in a car accident just days later. I said: ‘What is this?'”

Eliya said that while in Gaza, he shared with his  fellow hostages the feeling of incomprehension he experienced at that time. “I thought it was the worst thing I had ever been through in my life,” he said. But in retrospect, it was the epilepsy that led to his release.

“Today I’m here and I can tell you that I came home because the prime minister signed a humanitarian deal—they brought home whoever had health issues. And when my mother went to the prime minister and told him I have epilepsy and explained to him how bad it can get, they brought me home.”

“So when I developed epilepsy three years ago, I asked why such a terrible thing happened to me—and look, here I am.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)