“It was a way to show the innocence of those murdered on Oct. 7 and the cruelty, the awfulness—the pure barbarism—of what Hamas did.”

By Amelie Botbol, JNS

Eli Wininger, an IDF reservist and avid fitness enthusiast, ran 251 miles (400 kilometers) in Utah last October, raising $40,000 for hostages held in Gaza.

On Nov. 2, he plans to run the New York City Marathon dressed as Batman, in honor of the Bibas children murdered by Hamas.

A veteran of endurance events, including the Ironman Triathlon, Wininger had originally registered for the Utah race in October 2023.

Then Hamas launched its Oct. 7 onslaught on southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, and the Gaza war erupted.

“Oct. 7 happened. I am an IDF reservist. I dropped the race, flew to Israel, and fought for five months, two of which were in Gaza. I no longer had motivation to race,” Wininger told JNS.

Inspired by U.K. fitness coach Yoel Levy, Wininger ordered a Batman costume for the March 2025 Los Angeles Marathon.

That event took place shortly after the remains of Kibbutz Nir Oz residents Shiri Bibas and her sons Kfir and Ariel were returned to Israel following their murder in Hamas captivity.

Ariel, 4, was a dedicated fan of the Gotham City protector, and there are photos of family members wearing Batman T-shirts and costumes.

“It was a way to show the innocence of those murdered on Oct. 7 and the cruelty, the awfulness—the pure barbarism—of what Hamas did.

It was animalistic and perpetrated by terrorists who just want to destroy, bring fear and don’t care who they kill or who they attack,” Wininger said.

Wininger emphasized the importance of face-to-face encounters to limit anti-Israel activism to social media.

“When I run with the Israeli flag or in a Batman uniform, people ask me why. It raises awareness.

A Muslim from Afghanistan came up to me with a video camera, asking how I feel about what’s happening in Gaza and children and civilians being murdered,” he said.

“I explained why I was wearing my Batman costume and what happened to the Bibas kids. Death on either side is tragic, but you point fingers at terrorists, at Hamas, and not at Israel,” he added.

Being an IDF reservist, he said, lends credibility in such conversations when people are open-minded.

“They see that I am not just someone who has read another article, or who grew up a certain way. I’m someone who’s been there physically, I’ve been on the ground and I’ve seen what’s happening. I know what the IDF protocols and rules of engagement are, and I’m not just echoing something I’ve heard but something I’ve experienced, lived and seen with my own eyes,” he said.

Still, some people, Wininger noted, refuse to speak to him once they hear he is an IDF reservist.

“Those people are hopeless. If you’re going to instantly categorize people, then I don’t need to waste my time talking to them,” he said.

“Always be willing and open to talk and listen to people. It’s the only way we will reach common ground with the other side and have them understand us. Each and every one of us has to do the most that we can to spread awareness in our own unique way.

“While not everyone can be in Gaza fighting and not everyone can run a marathon in a Batman suit, everyone can do their own little thing,” he said.

He cited the example of a woman who follows him on social media and committed to running 250 kilometers (~155 miles) for the hostages over the course of October.

At times, he said, carrying an Israeli flag during races has made him a target. Some runners yelled obscenities, called him a Nazi, or accused Israel of genocide and starving Gazans.

Rather than engage in arguments mid-race, Wininger said he simply raised the flag higher and kept going. Often, he added, people later approached him to praise his composure.

“They are not even Jewish or Israeli. They are innocent bystanders who see one side as aggressive and the other as responding. I think that is the message we want people to see,” he said.

“Keep your cool, keep a straight face, talk to them like a human being, keep your composure. It sends a much louder message to people watching—and to the person doing it as well,” he continued.

“Stand your ground, speak with confidence and know that you are on the right side of history. I know I am. That’s how I am able to speak with composure each time,” he said.

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Jewish fitness guru Yoel Levy ran the London Marathon in a full Batman costume as a tribute to Kfir Bibas, the infant kidnapped by Hamas on October 7th and later brutally executed.


For the Bibas family

Yoel Levy – the “thejewishfitnesscoach” on Instagram ran the entire London Marathon dressed as Batman for the Bibas Family.

I have had the opportunity to hang out and spend some time with Yoel in the past, one of the nicest guyspic.twitter.com/sJRZWUlHE9

— Kosher (@koshercockney) July 4, 2025

The post WATCH: Jewish fitness coach runs marathon in Batman costume in honor of Kfir Bibas appeared first on World Israel News.

A costume shop in Jerusalem offered up Bibas-honoring Batman garb for just 10 shekels (about $2.75).

By Philissa Cramer, JTA

For a year and a half, a photograph of the Bibas family wearing Batman pajamas served as a symbol of the global vigil for their return from captivity in Gaza.

Batman was a passion for Ariel, who was 4 when he and his family were abducted from their home in southern Israeli on Oct. 7, 2023. He had dressed as the superhero for Purim that year, and his parents, Shiri and Yarden, were happy to buy matching gear for the entire family, including his new baby brother Kfir.

Now, on the first Purim since Shiri, Ariel and Kfir were confirmed dead and returned to Israel for burial — and with Yarden back in Israel after a hostage release last month — Jews around the world are dressing as Batman in their honor.

In Israel, entire classes of schoolchildren have worn orange Batman capes and masks, in a nod to both Ariel Bibas’ passion for the superhero and the brothers’ red hair, while a costume shop in Jerusalem offered up Bibas-honoring Batman garb for just 10 shekels (about $2.75).

“This is a pure loss from my own pocket, but I want to do it,” the store’s owner told the Jerusalem Post. “I see in all the comments that there’s a huge desire to dress up as Batman for Purim in honor of the Bibas family. So I got masks — one shekel each — just so TikTok on Purim will be filled with this mask.”

In the United States, parents have imbued their children’s dress-up closets with emotional significance. “My little Batman has no idea of the significance of his Purim costume choice this year,” one mother wrote on an Instagram story this week. Another family posted a video about putting together Batman-themed mishloach manot, the sweets-filled gift bags that are traditionally distributed on the holiday.

A Purim call to action began circulating in late February, after Hamas released Shiri, Ariel and Kfir’s bodies as part of a ceasefire deal. In the days leading up to the holiday, which commemorates the ancient Persian Jews’ triumph over a plot to kill them and is celebrated with costume parties and other rituals, the Bibas family said it had gotten many questions about whether it was appropriate to take part in the call.

Yes, said the family, which has sought to manage the collective memory of Shiri, Ariel and Kfir as well as Yarden’s exposure to new trauma. And on Wednesday, as Israel began its festivities, the family posted about the widespread Batman costumes.

“The heart missed a beat twice today. Once when we woke up to a morning without new photos of Ariel and Kfir dressed up for Purim, and the second time when we saw all the incredible gestures on the streets of Israel,” the family said on its social media account alongside a photograph of Yarden holding a plea for the return of his best friend David Cunio and his brother Ariel Cunio, who remain in captivity.

“Time after time during the last almost year and a half and especially during the last few weeks, you have shown us that Ariel and Kfir will never leave us,” the family said.

The family became an intense symbol of the Israeli hostages in Gaza for the more than a year during which Ariel and Kfir were the only children who remained in captivity, and their fate remained unknown.

“All kids are Batman for Purim. Mine don’t want to be. What do I do?” one parent wrote to the pro-Israel influencer Jonny Daniels, in a question he posted on his Instagram account. His response: “Let them do exactly what they want. This is a festival for them, not our guilt. … We all mourn and connect in different ways. We don’t need to force our children to do that.”

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The signatories to the letter include many of the most renowned comics creators, past and present.

By The David S. Wyman Institute

More than 50 writers, artists, and editors associated with the iconic Batman character have signed a letter to the Egyptian and Qatari ambassadors in Washington, urging them to press for the release of a young Batman fan who is among the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.

Photos of 4 year-old Ariel Bibas in a Batman costume, and his entire family wearing Batman t-shirts on Purim in 2023, have appeared widely since Ariel, his baby brother Kfir, and their parents were taken hostage on October 7.

The signatories on the letter include many of the most renowned comics creators, past and present, who have been involved with the Batman franchise.

“Every hostage is equally important, but naturally Batman writers and artists feel a special connection to this young Bat-fan and his family,” said Dr. Rafael Medoff, historian and director of the David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies, in Washington DC, which organized the petition.

“These comics creators have spent decades developing a hero who fights for the innocent and stands as a beacon of hope for his community, and we’re trying to channel that spirit through this effort.”

Medoff and former Batman artist Dean Motter recently created a nonfiction graphic novel, Whistleblowers: Four Who Fought to Expose the Holocaust to America (Dark Horse / Yoe Books), about Americans who spoke out for rescue during the Holocaust.

“The moral obligation to speak out against injustice never changes, whether during the Holocaust or in our own time,” Medoff said.

The full text of the letter ( https://tinyurl.com/y8acmvns ) by the 57 Batman creators:

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