Lighting Hope: Eli Sharabi and Gilad Erdan at the MDA Hanukkah Gala |
As Miss Israel and Miss World Influencer, this Hanukkah I felt part of one big family as we gathered at the Magen David Adom – AFMDA Miami Gala at the Miami Beach Convention Center, a night that truly lived up to its promise. Nearly 600 people — philanthropists, volunteers, and celebrities — came together, united by a shared mission: to honor life and to stand tall in the darkest moments since October 7.
On Hanukkah, a holiday of miracles, we witnessed true courage in the presence of former hostage Eli Sharabi. He shared with the audience how he survived 491 days in Hamas captivity, enduring starvation, isolation, and psychological terror. Emerging from unimaginable darkness, he delivered a message that moved everyone in the room: choose life. Listening to him, I was reminded of what it truly means to be Israeli — to be broken and yet still believe, to suffer and yet still choose hope.
Sharabi described in detail many of those terrifying moments before........