“The story of Rom is one that needs to be told, and that everybody should know,” said Galya Hall from Christian Friends of Israel. She explained in an interview with Paul Calvert1 how she knows the family of Rom Brazlovski, and his extraordinary story.
“Rom was 19 years old on October 7th, 2023. He was at the Nova Music Festival down at Re’im. But he was not there as a partygoer,” she began.
“Rom was there for work. He was working as security, and when the attack happened, when the Hamas militants infiltrated and invaded this music festival where they raped and massacred and butchered and brutally killed hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of of just innocent young men and women, Rom understood very quickly what was going on and he could have run for his life. He’s a young, fit, healthy guy. He could have made a run for it and tried to escape. But that is not what Rom did,” she explained.
“Rom stayed behind and he began to rescue people who were injured. He began to help people who were panicking to get them to a place of safety to try and get them in the right direction away from the danger. He went back time after time after time.
And how do we know this? We know this because afterwards people who had been helped by Rom saw his poster as one of the kidnapped and they realized, hang on a second, that’s the guy that helped me. That’s the guy that saved my life.”
“There’s even a story of how Rom gathered a group of people together and started to teach them some self-defense so that if they had to take on the terrorists that they were a little bit more equipped. This… is the definition of a hero. Not what we see in the world today and Hollywood and nonsense, people call themselves heroes. Rom is a hero — he is a true hero who put his own safety to the side in order to help others… And it reminds me of when the Lord spoke about no greater love has a man than this, that, he would lay down his life for his friend. And really, that’s what Rom was actually willing to do. And because of this, he ended up being kidnapped.”
Rom has been in Hamas captivity for two entire years now. During that time, the hostages have experienced hell.
Israel’s Ministry of Health recently released a full report on the horrifying conditions the hostages have endured. Those remaining alive in the tunnels are clinging to life, barely surviving.
“It was very very distressing to see those videos of Rom and of Evyatar,” Galya said about the torturous footage Hamas released. “It kind of confirmed what I think maybe we were all fearing the most that they don’t have a lot of time left. What we saw were living skeletons…. We saw them emaciated. We saw Evyatar being made to dig his own grave. We saw Rom in tears with a very shaky voice, barely able to move. It was deeply deeply disturbing and really just took me back to images from Auschwitz.”
Galya got to know Rom’s family when his mother, Tammy, came seeking help at their offices. Though they respect the privacy of the family, Galya has promised to highlight Rom’s terrible situation and urge as many as possible to pray.
“I gave my word to Tammy that I would speak as often as I could about Rom and talk about Rom and say his name and tell his story and keep awareness alive about Rom until he comes home.”
“The family are frozen on October the 7th, 2023. In a way, if I can say this, they are also hostages,” Galya shared. “They are also held captive by all kinds of fear and emotions. It’s very, very, very, very distressing for the family to see these images in this video of Rom. The way Rom was moving, the way he was speaking, his voice was very shaky, very, very emotional. His mom is on record as saying that for the first time she felt like they broke him. He’s a broken young man. He’s 21 years old. He’s had two birthdays in captivity.”
There are hostages whose names and stories remain largely unheard.
Rom Bresslavsky may be less known, but it is crucial for us to recognize his story: Rom was abducted to Gaza because he chose not to flee for his life but to attempt to save others at a party in Nova.
He… pic.twitter.com/NkSqXM2dNY
— Eli Afriat (@EliAfriatISR) September 20, 2025
“There was a video that was released of Rom several months ago, but his mom feels that in this most recent video, there’s a real change. She felt that there was still some strength and hope in his eyes before, whereas now she feels like they’ve broken him, like they’ve really got to him and he’s got nothing left. He’s skin and bones. He’s emaciated. He’s in a very, very desperate, desperate way. and and we have to do whatever it takes to ensure that he comes home and he comes home soon.”
Galya says that even though the family are barely able to function, Tammy Brazlovski is a warrior and they are a family of prayer.
“She said in her interview recently with one of the Israeli media outlets that she believes in the power of prayer. Those are her words… She called on people all over the world to join with her with the family in praying for Rom and helping through these prayers to get him home.”
Palestinian Islamic Jihad have said that they lost contact with those holding Rom captive since the video was taken, but this could just be more psychological torture for the family and Israel as a whole.
“They don’t know what to believe. That’s why Tammy and her family turn to prayer. They’re doing all kinds of beautiful things in Rom’s name. For example, Rom’s brother Amit recently visited wounded soldiers in Israeli hospitals, soldiers that have been severely injured and wounded, I mean, they’ve lost limbs, and he went with gift bags filled with sweets and filled with lovely items and with Rom’s picture on the gift bag. And they’re trying to do beautiful, meaningful things like this in Rom’s name, which I think is very, very admirable.”
“We need to pray for Rom. Please get everybody to pray, pray, pray, pray, pray. She believes with all her heart that there will be good news in her words as she puts it, good news from above for Rom and for all the hostages.”
We need to pray for all the hostages who are still clinging to life in Gaza. The situation is horrific, but God…
“Prayer is very effective. Prayer can change situations,” says Galya. “And Tammy knows this. She believes that prayer is powerful. She understands it, and so do we. Yes, we need to call on our leaders. Yes, we need to do petitions. Yes, we need to to spread Rom’s image and his name all over social media. Keep the awareness alive. But ultimately, yes, I do believe that prayer can change situations. Just when something looks impossible and we pray, anything can happen.”
“My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge, my savior; you save me from violence [in Hebrew it literally says You save me from hamas – מֵחָמָס תֹּשִׁעֵנִי]” (2 Samuel 22:3)
“My name is Rom Braslavski. I am 22 years old from Jerusalem.
I am a prisoner of the Islamic Jihad. I’ve been here almost two years.
I am suffering terribly. A suffering that doesn’t look good, my foot, I cannot stand or go to the bathroom.
I am out of food and drink…
Three… pic.twitter.com/HYf4XHB7r7— Hamas Atrocities (@HamasAtrocities) August 3, 2025
- Interview with Paul Calvert
