This Sunday marks my second Father’s Day without my son, Bar. It feels unthinkable to even write that sentence. And yet, it is true.
Over 617 agonizing days and sleepless nights have passed since I last held my son, heard his voice, or felt the warmth of his presence. Bar Kuperstein was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023, at the Nova Music Festival, and has been held captive in Gaza ever since, under brutal, inhumane conditions. He is one of 55 hostages still held by Hamas.
This Father’s Day, like the last, arrives with a crushing weight. There is no hug. No smile. No message, no call, no card. Only aching emptiness and the harrowing silence of uncertainty, absence, and despair.
Bar is 23 years old. He is my firstborn, the eldest of five siblings. He is not just my son, he is my heart, my compass, my light. A gentle giant with a kind soul. On that horrific morning of October 7, while rockets flew and bullets tore through the sky at the Nova Music Festival, Bar did not flee. He stayed behind to help. He tended the wounded, calmed the frightened, and helped others escape. He insisted on staying with the injured, even as the gunfire drew closer.
He had a chance to run, but he didn’t take it. That’s who Bar is — brave, selfless, and good to his core.
Credit: Kupershtein family.
Bar has always been strong. In 2019, I was severely injured in a car accident while rushing to resuscitate a four-year-old girl as a volunteer medic. I lost my ability to walk and speak. Bar immediately stepped into the space where I could no longer stand and became our family’s rock. At just 18, he helped raise his siblings, supported our home, and brought light into our lives despite the darkness.
But even a young man like Bar cannot survive forever in the darkness of underground tunnels, without food, water, or minimal humanitarian conditions.
Several months ago, we saw a Hamas propaganda video in which Bar appeared silent, frightened, thin and hollow-eyed. My son, the love of my life, buried alive. A survivor who continues to suffer.
Since Bar’s abduction, I’ve made it my mission to be his voice. I’ve spent the past year relearning how to speak — not for myself, but for Bar. Last month, I sat in my wheelchair at the Gaza border, near Kibbutz Nir Oz, and shouted through tears: “Bar! I am speaking again! You can come back!”
To all the fathers celebrating this weekend: I hope you hold your children tight. I hope you tell them how much they mean to you. Because there are fathers like me who can only dream of that embrace.
To the international community, I say this: The lives of our children cannot be negotiable. Their freedom cannot be delayed. We need the world’s moral courage now — to stand with the families of hostages and demand their safe return. Indifference is a form of complicity.
And especially to you, President Trump: you too are a father. You know what it means to protect your children, to love them beyond words. I plead with your heart: Please, help us end this nightmare. We believe you have the power. Help put an end to this war and the suffering on both sides. Use your influence, your strength, your voice — to bring back my son Bar, and the 54 other hostages still held in Gaza.
Amir Levy/Getty Images
No family should endure this. No child should be left to languish in darkness while the world moves on.
If Bar is freed, I will rise from this wheelchair. I will stand with every ounce of strength left in me and walk to him. I will wrap my arms around him and say, “Welcome home, son. You were never forgotten.”
Please bring back the happy in my Father’s Day. Bring back the sunshine of my life.
Bring Bar home. BRING HIM HOME NOW.
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Tal Kupershtein is the father of Bar Kuperstein, who is held hostage by Hamas in Gaza.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
