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Elana Troufanov, former hostage and mother of Sasha Troufanov, thanks G-d for saving her son
By: Moshe New
On Shabbat morning—Saturday, Feb. 15—Alexander (Sasha) Troufanov was released by Hamas after spending 498 days held captive by Palestinian terrorists. He was released together with Sagui Dekel-Chen and Iair Horn, all three of them having been kidnapped on Oct. 7.
Reunited with his family, it didn’t take long for Troufanov to thank G‑d for his new-found freedom. On Sunday morning, Troufanov donned tefillin and prayed with the assistance of Rabbi Berel Lazar, the chief rabbi of Russia. This was the first time that Troufanov had ever wrapped tefillin, marking his bar mitzvah.
Since her own release from Hamas captivity in November 2023, Troufanov’s mother, Elena, has been in regular contact with Lazar for strength, resolve, spiritual guidance as well as for help to secure her son’s release.
The tefillin was part of a larger gift from the Jewish community of Russia—Troufanov’s birthplace—that also included a bag with his name printed in both Hebrew and Russian, a siddur prayer book and a Chitas. Lazar presented the package to Troufanov at the Sheba Medical Center, where the former hostages are recovering. Lazar then helped him lay the tefillin and recite the Shema prayer.
In a conversation with Chabad.org, Troufanov’s mother expressed her deepest gratitude to the global Jewish community that came together in prayer for her son’s release.
“I know that the prayers of everyone, all those who prayed in the merit of Sasha; they were what protected him. I know this with certainty. Because there [in Gaza] he had moments that were very difficult,” she said. “He had moments there where he was really close to being killed. But G‑d protected him.”
A Family Torn Apart
Born in Rostov, Russia, in 1995 to Vitaly and Elena Troufanov, Sasha moved to Israel with his family when he was 3 years old. They quickly settled in Kibbutz Nir Oz. Sasha studied electrical engineering at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and later moved to central Israel to work for Amazon on its web-services team.
On the weekend of Oct. 7, Sasha and his partner, 29-year-old Sapir Cohen, were visiting his parents at the kibbutz. Nir Oz was among the first communities targeted when Palestinian terrorists launched their attack that morning. The terrorists reached the kibbutz by 7 a.m., when most residents had taken shelter in their safe rooms due to rocket fire.
Despite a brave defense, the kibbutz’s security team was overwhelmed with many either killed or captured. For hours, Hamas and affiliated Palestinian terrorists moved through the community, killing residents, taking hostages and burning homes. A quarter of Nir Oz’s population was murdered, kidnapped or severely wounded. Among those killed was Vitaly Troufanov, 50. Elena, 50; her mother, Irena Tati, 78; as well as Sasha and Sapir were taken hostage.
Troufanov’s employer, Amazon, did not publicly acknowledge his employment with them at the time, and in November 2023, one month after Troufanov’s capture, the company debuted a computer chip he’d worked on. His absence and plight were ignored, and went unannounced at the unveiling. The first time Amazon has publicly acknowledged Troufanov at all was upon his release.
One Big Jewish Family
While the Troufanovs left Russia in the late 1990s, Elena’s mother, Irena Tati, continued living in Rostov for years, forming a close relationship with Rabbi Chaim and Kaila Danzinger, Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries who lead the Jewish Community of Rostov.
“Irena was in synagogue every single week, came to my wife’s women’s classes every week and was a very active member of the community,” said Rabbi Danzinger. About a year before Oct. 7 Irena relocated to Israel to live closer to her children, settling near them in Kibbutz Nir Oz.
Immediately following the terror attack, the Danzingers realized their close friend Irena lived in one of the most heavily impacted towns and tried calling her, but her phone was off. “We weren’t sure if she was kidnapped, or G‑d forbid she had been killed,” recalled the rabbi. About a week later they learned that she, together with her family, had been kidnapped.
That’s when Danzinger contacted Rabbi Lazar to let him know that three Russian citizens—Irena, Elena and Sasha—were being held captive in Gaza, and Lazar began immediately advocating on the family’s behalf in Moscow.
When Kaila Danzinger celebrated her 40th birthday in Rostov later that winter, instead of a big birthday bash she organized a women’s evening of song and prayer in the merit of the safe return of the hostages. In an allusion to the tambourine of Miriam the Prophetess, the women decorated tambourines that evening, making three extra ones—for Irena, Elena and Sapir.
The very next day, on Nov. 29, 2023, Elena and Irena were released by Hamas. Sapir was released the next day on Nov. 30 as part of a week-long cease fire.
But Sasha remained behind.
In the months that followed, the Troufanov family campaigned nonstop for Sasha’s release, creating various social-media pages sharing details of his life and updating the public on his status. They also prayed. Irena had been keeping Shabbat since her days in Rostov, but now Elena joined her in celebrating the holy day each and every week, and calling on all Jewish women and girls to fill the world with light by kindling the Shabbat candles.
During this period the family also received a dollar bill from the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory, provided by Rabbi Yosef Wolvovsky of Chabad Jewish Center in Glastonbury, Conn. The dollar of blessing was presented to the family by Chabad.org’s Rabbi Mordechai Lightstone, who runs Tech Tribe—a community for Jews in tech—during the organization’s solidarity trip to Israel for Jews in the tech industry, where Sasha worked.
Throughout Sasha’s captivity in Gaza, Palestinian Islamic Jihad released several “proof-of-life” videos featuring him, part of the group’s continued acts of psychological terror. Two days before his release, a final video was shared of him being led down the beach on a fishing trip, as a final sadistic act capping off nearly 500 days in captivity.
“I thank G‑d, the Creator of the world, I am really thankful that He released my son,” Elena said. “I am so thankful to Him [G‑d], and I know that it was all from the merit of the prayers of all of us. All of Am Yisrael. All those who prayed in the merit of Sasha.”
But Elena isn’t done praying:
“We continue to pray until the last hostage … all must return.”
