On October 7, 2023, seventy-year-old Luis Har was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak and found himself in the back of a pickup truck crossing into Gaza, sitting on a pile of rifles. He spent 129 days held captive in a house in the heart of Rafah, guarded by armed Hamas terrorists, until the incredible special forces operation that restored his freedom.
This powerful memoir describes the mental fortitude necessary to survive the worst and remain unbroken – a process that does not end with the escape from captivity. From his roots in Argentina and his peaceful kibbutz life to the endless days in Rafah, Luis lays bare his inner journey and its intersection with the journeys of his family members, the people of Israel, and people of good will all around the world.
Rescued is a raw testimony to the power of tikvah (hope) as the one refuge capable of sustaining human dignity in the most difficult moments.