You are loved

When Omer Shem Tov got a call saying that his cruelest captor was killed, he laughed.

He said when interviewed, "I'll tell you the truth, the first thing that happened was I simply started laughing.

I smiled and started laughing.

For me, it was a kind of closure.

He was really one of the worst abusers, let's put it that way...

I think it was the kind of laugh..

There's that saying (in Arabic) 'Every dog has its day...'

I think it was that kind of laugh that came out of me."

We all remember the image of Omer at the horrible "release ceremony" where he was forced to kiss his captor in a fake expression of "gratitude" or "affection."

There was no one in Israel that believed that this Omer grew to love his captor. We knew that it was a sinister play he was being forced to perform.

It is this captor that was eliminated by the IDF and Shin Bet.

When asked how he felt when he heard the news, he said:

"It took me back, I'm not going to lie. It suddenly reminded me of all kinds of things he did and all kinds of experiences I had with him. I think it simply gave me closure..."

Explaining what the captor did to him in Gaza, he said:

"(He did) everything you can think of-- (abuse) physical, emotional, psychological- extreme starvation, especially from him. He wouldn't let me eat. He would spit in my food. No, he did everything imaginable."

Omer- We can only begin to imagine what he did to you.

What you experienced when you were there.

He was chased to the end, and we never forgot what he did to you.

He will be remembered for his sins, his inhumanity, and his cruelty.

And you survived.

That laugh- a release of fear, an expression of hope, a sense of relief?

The beauty of closure.

A chapter that ends.

His brutal life is over.

But yours we hope will continue in healing, in love, and in potential.

Keep laughing Omer!

Keep smiling.

You are loved.

May you have a long beautiful and peaceful life.