Rivka's Story

May 15th, 2024 |HaTikva Families

Rivka first visited Israel when she was young and knew it would be her future home. Several years later, she moved to Israel from Columbia, married her husband, Elkana, and had their first child.

On October 7th, Elkana was part of the staff at the Nova music festival. Shortly after the massacre, Rivka learned that Hamas took him captive in Gaza and, from that moment, has had no contact with him. As Rivka awaits any news from the government regarding her husband, she and her son have been living in the same home as Elkana's parents, his brother, his wife, and their children.

Elkana's family has been processing their emotions together in this same small space, making it difficult for Rivka to create an emotionally stable environment for her son as they live in the nightmare of not knowing the actual status of Elkana.

Her son scans the posters of the hostages so that he can find his dad’s picture, as that is the only relationship he has with him at the moment. Rivka shared with us how helpful it would be for her and her son to have their own home to have space to process and grieve.

Because of the giving of our faithful partners, HaTikva Project has been able to rent Rivka a separate apartment near the family for at least six months! Pray with us that Elkana will be home soon!