Iris (& Tuval) Haim: Forgiving The Soldier Who Accidentally Killed My Hostage Son
Inspiration for the Nation with Yaakov Langer
Living Lchaim
4.9 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 7 March 2026
⏱️ 81 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Inspiration for the Nation is the weekly Jewish podcast from Living Lchaim, hosted by Yaakov Langer.
On October 7th, Iris Chaim’s son Yotam Chaim was taken hostage by Hamas. For weeks, she held onto hope that he was alive. In an unbelievable turn of events, Yotam escaped captivity - only to be tragically killed by the IDF after being mistaken for a terrorist. In this deeply emotional conversation, Iris and her son Tuval Chaim share how their family faced unimaginable loss and chose a path of faith, resilience, and forgiveness instead of anger. Iris & Tuval opens up about his own struggle with grief, the anger he felt after his brother’s death, and how he ultimately channeled that pain into music, healing, and purpose - continuing Yotam’s legacy. Together, they tell a powerful story about October 7th, hostages, trauma, hope, and the strength of the Jewish spirit - and how one family turned tragedy into a mission to bring unity, healing, and light to the world.
Help the Chaim's org here: https://secured.israelgives.org/pay/makedonation?MakeDonation=1&AmutaGovId=580802494
Tuval’s music: https://bit.ly/4lfZufu
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✬ IN MEMORY OF ✬
This episode is in memory of:
- Miram Sarah bas Yaakov Moshe
- Shimon Dovid ben Yaakov Shloima
#iftn
Lchaim.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | A delegation of women came and one of them the officer, she said the terrible thing that |
| 0:07.7 | Yotam was killed by IDF while he was escaping Hamas captivity and by accident was identified |
| 0:16.2 | as a terrorist. |
| 0:18.2 | And it was a shock, of course. |
| 0:20.7 | And the first thing that they said was, I am not angry |
| 0:25.4 | because it's our soldiers, Israeli army. What is strength? Here you have a mother, a brother, |
| 0:32.6 | whose loved one was a hostage, and then they get the horrible news that the very person they wanted home so badly was killed by the IDEach. But no, they didn't hold on to anger. They forgave. This is a very special episode, and I have a lot to say at the very end. This episode is powered by Bipin, Weel Salis, the Dream Raffle, and of course, the Philtime. This episode is Le' Lailun Nishma Shimon Dava bin Yaakov Shlema and Mirim Sarabas Yachim |
| 0:57.6 | Moshah. |
| 0:58.4 | Now, before we begin, you're going to notice very different perspectives about loss. |
| 1:04.0 | You have Iris and Tuval. |
| 1:07.5 | Iris is the mother and Tuval is the brother. |
| 1:10.3 | And they each took their way of dealing with grief very differently |
| 1:16.1 | and that's okay. |
| 1:18.2 | So here's my conversation with Iris. |
| 1:21.3 | Iris Chaim, thank you so much for doing this. |
| 1:23.7 | Could we get a snapshot of what your life was like before October 7th? |
| 1:28.3 | Before, yes. |
| 1:30.3 | I had life before and I had life after. |
| 1:33.3 | My life before 7th of October, I was a nurse and a palliative care nurse, a hospice nurse, actually. |
| 1:42.3 | I lived in the Gaza envelope. |
| 1:45.7 | I took care of my... |
| 1:48.2 | No, I didn't take care of them |
... |
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