Just hours before the ceasefire, in the depth of the Fortified Underground Emergency Hospital (FUEH) at Rambam Health Care Campus (Rambam), a baby girl was born, bringing new life into a family still grieving a devastating loss. For Shoval Kostanko-Tsarfati, sister of murdered Nova festival victim Ofir Tsarfati, the birth was a moment of hope in a time of heartbreak.
Shoval Kostanko-Tsarfati and her husband, Max, learned they were expecting their second child, Yam, just two days before October 7, 2023—her late brother Ofir Tsarfati's birthday. Tragically, just days later, Tsarfati, z”l, was abducted from the Nova Music Festival and murdered in Gaza.
At the time, the couple decided to wait before sharing the joyful news with Tsarfati, wanting him to enjoy his birthday celebration without any distractions. It was a decision they now regret.
“I dreamed I was telling Ofir about the pregnancy and saw his face light up,” Shoval recalls. “He knew how much we longed for another child after our daughter Emma, now four and a half, was born. We believe Yam, who was born at Rambam, was his gift to us—to help open our hearts and bring some joy.”
Then, on October 7, 2024—exactly one year after Tsarfati's abduction—the couple discovered they were expecting a third child. “Ofir was with me again,” Shoval says. “I feel his presence all the time, even in the delivery room. I talk to him constantly. He’s part of everything we go through.”
On June 23, 2025—during Operation Rising Lion and amid wailing sirens—Shoval gave birth to a baby girl in the safety of the FUEH, one year after Yam’s birth.
“I feel like I’m living in two worlds at once,” she says. “There are still hostages in Gaza, and yet in one year, I’ve given birth twice. In one world, time stands still. In the other, it races ahead.”
The family continues to navigate a fragile balance between grief and joy. “We’re trying to stay optimistic—but we can’t forget, not even for a moment, that there are still hostages in Gaza.”
“My hope is that my children—and everyone’s—grow up in a different reality. I pray for healing, for a miracle. I hope their lives will be different.”
