How do you hold on to hope when everything you love is on the line? For 505 days, Shelly Shem Tov fought to bring her son Omer home from captivity in Gaza. In this intimate program, she shares her journey of love, faith and resilience, and the strength she found in the darkest moments. You’ll leave witha powerful perspective on resilience, faith, and finding hope through hardship.
Shelly’s story is one of a mother who refused to give up. From pain to purpose and from survival to hope, she offers an honest, deeply personal window into the days that changed her family forever and inspired millions of Israelies and Jews around the world.
Shelly’s story is one of a mother who refused to give up. From pain to purpose and from survival to hope, she offers an honest, deeply personal window into the days that changed her family forever and inspired millions of Israelies and Jews around the world.
Returning Home: Love, Faith & Hope with Shelly Shem Tov
Co-Chairs: Delilah Cohen & Yaffa-Leah Wallace
Tuesday | December 15, 2026 | $18
7:30–9:00 PM (Doors open at 7:00 PM)
The Dupree Conference and Education Center
Tuesday | December 15, 2026 | $18
7:30–9:00 PM (Doors open at 7:00 PM)
The Dupree Conference and Education Center
Shelly Shem Tov is the mother of Omer Shem Tov, who was taken hostage on October 7, 2023, and held in Gaza for 505 days. For more than a year and a half, she led the fight for his release with courage, faith and relentless determination, and became a global symbol of a mother’s strength.
Today, Shelly shares her story with Jewish communities, schools and organizations around the world. She speaks from the heart about hope, inner strength and the renewed purpose that comes from enduring the unimaginable.
Today, Shelly shares her story with Jewish communities, schools and organizations around the world. She speaks from the heart about hope, inner strength and the renewed purpose that comes from enduring the unimaginable.
