A year ago, family members of hostages were moved to tears when they visited the home of Rebbetzin Leah Kolodetsky, the daughter of HaGaon HaRav Chaim Kanievsky, z’tl.

The hostages’ relatives were in Bnei Brak as part of a Sukkos tour. The Rebbetzin told them that for months after the October 7 massacre, her husband, HaGaon HaRav Yitzchak Kolodetsky, 71, slept on the floor in solidarity with the suffering of the hostages.

However, at the end of the winter, her husband caught a cold from sleeping on the floor so he placed a thin piece of plywood on a bed and slept on that.

B’Chasdei Hashem, on Monday night (Simchas Torah in Eretz Yisrael), Harav Kolodetsky finally removed the plywood from his bed and slept directly on the mattress.

Last year, Chareidi journalist Yisrael Cohen, who accompanied the families, said, “We arrived at the home of Rebbetzin Kolodetsky to get a bracha. She told us in a ‘by the way’ manner that her husband hasn’t slept on a bed since October 7, 2023.”

“The son-in-law of HaGaon HaRav Chaim Kanievsky, z’tl, a Talmid Chacham and Rav in Yisrael, over the age of 70, decided to sleep on a board he placed on a bed. For a year already.  Every night.”

He added, “The Rebbetzin said, ‘You can go in the room and see. How can we sleep comfortably when we have no idea how and where the hostages are sleeping?”

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)