These parents were delivered a miracle scripted in heaven.
Nearly three years after Hamas terrorists abducted their son Almog on Oct. 7 and killed him in captivity 11 months later, Nira and Yigal Sarusi have welcomed a baby boy — thanks to a medical procedure made possible by eggs frozen a quarter-century ago, and what the grieving parents call divine intervention.
Little Lavi was born on Yom Kippur, just two weeks before the third anniversary of Israel’s darkest day, when Hamas terrorists kidnapped his brother, then 26, from the Nova music festival.
Despite his own gunshot wounds, the civil engineering student stayed behind to help his injured girlfriend Shahar, who was later killed.
He planned to propose the following year.
“It’s a true miracle,” Yigal told The Post, adding that as life was cruelly stolen, new life can miraculously emerge – a testament that evil will not win.
“It’s all from God,” the 60-year-old said.
The hope the Sarusis held for 331 agonizing days that their “hero” son would return home alive was dashed when Hamas executed Almog and five other hostages.
He, Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg Polin and four others were slain deep inside the bowels of Gaza in a Rafah tunnel in August 2024 just moments before the IDF was closing in on their rescue. They would become known as “The Beautiful Six.”
Haunting images of the inconsolable parents at Almog’s funeral were seared into the soul of the country.
While mourning their son — the oldest of four children — the Sarusis remembered eggs frozen some 25 years earlier as part of a medical procedure and, with the blessing of their remaining children, decided to pursue surrogacy.
But the Ra’anana-based couple kept their journey private.
“We didn’t talk about it because we didn’t know if it would succeed,” Yigal said, noting they endured a few failed rounds. “But he’s 100% ours.”
Lavi is “lion” in Hebrew, and that’s exactly what this miracle child represents for the beaming parents.
“He’s the future of Israel,” Yigal said. ”I want all of Israel to love this kid.”
Between diaper changes and night feedings, starting over again at 58 and 60 isn’t easy, but it’s priceless.
“We knew this moment would feel good. But it’s even better than we imagined,” declared Yigal, who noted that little Lavi bears a resemblance to his oldest brother.
“We’re insisting life goes on,” said a defiant Yigal.
“It’s pure joy that we have a new son. The heart is getting full.”
Yigal hopes his baby boy will embody the values of Almog – a “brave, strong, optimistic” young man who volunteered to tutor children and shopped for the needy on holidays. And he was never without his two favorite possessions — his guitar and white Jeep.
“We teach his values – we are all Almog now.”
The message Lavi sends the world is simple, said Yigal.
“This is the boy who carries strength and courage,” he said. “We still have the pain and that pain will never end. It doesn’t erase the pain. Nothing can.
“We cry, but we have the joy now. It’s the two things together.”
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: nypost.com
