The sweet scent of maple syrup wafting through the air and the sound of pancakes sizzling on a griddle: For decades, that was the quintessential Shabbat morning in Keith and Aviva Siegel’s home on Kibbutz Kfar Aza in southern Israel. 

In that home, the couple’s four children — and eventually five grandchildren — would gather for family meals centered around pancakes — a recipe that originally belonged to Keith’s mother, a recipe that “brings back memories of special and happy family times,” he told Jewish Insider.   

Those meals were put on hold for 484 days. Keith and Aviva were both kidnapped from their home by Hamas during the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks. Aviva was released from Gaza one month later during a brief ceasefire in Israel’s war with the terrorist group. Keith was released on Feb. 1, 2025, in a U.S.-brokered deal. At 66, he was the oldest living American-Israeli hostage in Gaza. While held captive in tunnels 130 feet underground, Keith said he dreamed of eating his family’s pancakes several times a day. 

While Keith was in Gaza thinking of the pancakes, his daughter, Shir, posted on social media every Saturday morning about how much she missed her dad’s pancakes. Soon, Israelis were tagging her in their own pancake photos as a show of solidarity, and eventually, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum advocacy group published Keith’s now-famous recipe in a cookbook. 

On Friday, New Yorkers got a chance to taste the pancakes — cooked by Keith and Aviva — at a one-day pop-up pancake house hosted by 12 Chairs Cafe, an Israeli restaurant in downtown Manhattan. The event, which drew lines around the block, was a fundraiser hosted by the Hostages Forum to advocate for the 58 hostages that remain in Gaza (about a third of them are believed to be alive). The pay-what-you-wish event raised $14,660, according to the restaurant. About 1,200 people attended, including former hostages Doron Steinbrecher, also a resident of Kfar Aza, and Andrey Kozlov, who was abducted from the Nova music festival. 

In the kitchen of 12 Chairs as she was flipping pancakes, Aviva told JI she’s been making her mother-in-law’s recipe for a “long, long, long time.” She and Keith have been married for 44 years. 

“I’m feeling the support from everybody here,” Keith told JI over lunch. He recommends pancakes “with butter, real maple syrup, strawberries and blueberries,” although on Friday, he opted for 12 Chairs’ best-known dishes instead — a spread of Israeli salad, eggs, hummus and falafel and a side of challah with dips. 

The Siegels are visiting the U.S. as part of an effort to lobby Congress and the Trump administration to strike a deal to release the remaining hostages. Friday marked 587 days since the Oct. 7 attacks. “I’ve spent time in captivity with the hostages that are still in Gaza,” Keith told JI. “I am thinking about them everyday, worrying about them everyday, knowing what horrendous conditions they are held in. Their health and well-being is deteriorating over time and it’s urgent to bring them back home.” 

“I am eternally grateful to President [Donald] Trump for all that he has done,” he continued. “I was released in an agreement that President Trump’s efforts led to. I urge him to continue.” 

Keith also called for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli government “to prioritize the release of the hostages and do what needs to be done to get them back.” 

But on Friday, the focus was pancakes not politics. “We’re bringing people together via the pancakes to raise awareness for the hostages,” Keith said. 

This story was updated on Sunday afternoon to include the amount of money raised at the event.