See what Lawrence resident Guy Tsadik is doing to increase hostage awareness

Businesses in the Five Towns are spreading awareness of the hostages being held in Gaza with the help of Guy Tsadik, a Lawrence resident.

On Oct. 19 and 20, Tsadik , his wife Tami Tsadik, son Eitan and daughter Maya went door to door, asking businesses lining Central Avenue in Cedarhurst and Lawrence to post photos of the hostages taken after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on their storefront windows.

“There is no company or affiliation, I’m an American and Israeli citizen, this is just something I personally did myself,” Guy said.

Tsadik said he had nearly 100 percent participation from businesses between Rockaway Turnpike and Prospect Avenue, excluding banks, which he feared would have stricter protocol on posting something in windows, and a few businesses that declined the request.

David’s Famous Pizza on Central Avenue in Cedarhurst has joined in the effort to spread awareness, posting hostage photos and providing free food to soldiers, leaving the Five Towns to fight in Israel.

“When my wife was hanging up the sign at David’s Pizza, one of the patrons said, ‘Somebody was kidnapped?’ So, you talk about the need for awareness and you have your answer right there,” Tsadik said.

David’s Pizza owner, David Gerassi, said that it is important to spread word of the Hamas attacks, because this is something that impacts everyone.

“It doesn’t make any difference if they’re Jewish, Arab, Chinese, Black, white whatever it was, if you hear that a kid, two-year-old, one-year-old was killed in front of his parents and then the mother was killed and then the father was killed, you can’t comprehend this sort of thing, this huge thing and I think the whole world should hear that and should know about it and do something about it,” Gerassi said. “Sometimes when we talk among ourselves, I say, ‘You know what’s worse than those Hamas guys, the guys that side with them, the guys that agree with them, because they could do it to you, they could do it to your brother, than could do it to your parents, they could do it to your kids.’”

He said that by affixing hostage photos and providing food donations they’re attempting to help humanity and Israel alike.

“The little that we do sending food to the soldiers, they’re fighting, Israel and the soldiers are fighting to protect the whole world from these people and that’s why they should be backed up and that’s why they should have all the help from all the countries in the world, because today it’s happening over there, tomorrow it could happen in New York, in Seattle, and in all of those other places,” Gerassi said.

Fay Feder owner of Kiss and Makeup a Central Avenue salon also in Cedarhurst said she too is trying to help in whatever way she can.

“The reason why it’s so important to all of us is because Israel is our homeland, what happened on Oct. 7 tore all of our hearts apart, the hostages are on our mind every minute, the entire community is mourning, we just need those hostages home immediately,” she said. “Jews all over the world are posting pictures everywhere so there is massive awareness which seems to be working and we won’t rest until every single hostage is home safely.”