More than two years after losing their son Almog Sarusi, who was abducted from the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023 and later murdered in Hamas captivity, his parents, Nira and Yigal Sarusi, have welcomed a new son.

The baby, named Lavi, was born with the help of a surrogate using eggs the family had frozen approximately 25 years ago during a medical procedure.

Almog was killed in Hamas captivity alongside five other hostages, Hersh Goldberg Polin, Eden Yerushalmi, Carmel Gat, Alexander Lobanov and Ori Danino. Their bodies were recovered by Israeli forces from a tunnel in Rafah in September 2024.

Ra’anana Mayor Chaim Broyde, who attended Lavi’s brit milah this week, shared the extraordinary story and described a ceremony filled with powerful and conflicting emotions.

There was deep longing for Almog, tears and pain, he wrote, but also enormous joy as a newborn brought new life into a family that has endured unimaginable loss.

According to Broyde, while mourning Almog about two years ago, Nira and Yigal remembered the eggs that had been preserved decades earlier. They located them, discussed the possibility of expanding their family with their surviving children and eventually found a surrogate.

After several attempts, the process succeeded. The family kept the pregnancy private until Lavi’s brit milah in Ra’anana.

“A miracle happened to us,” the family wrote in the invitation to the ceremony, according to Broyde.

They said their son was born on Yom Kippur through a “wonderful surrogate,” bringing new hope into a home that will forever carry Almog’s memory.

The Sarusis said the pain of losing Almog will remain with them forever, but alongside that grief, they now have an extraordinary reason to celebrate life again.

Now in their 60s, Nira and Yigal are beginning parenthood all over again, welcoming baby Lavi into a family forever shaped by the son they lost and now strengthened by the new life they never imagined they would hold. 💙🇮🇱