For a little while I forsook you,
But with vast love I will bring you back.
In slight anger, for a moment,
I hid My face from you;
But with kindness everlasting
I will take you back in love.
—said GOD your Redeemer.
(Isaiah 54:7-8 – Haftarah Parshat Ki Teitzei)

 

The cold-blooded execution of six high-profile hostages came as a devastating blow leaving so many of us reeling – some even saying that it was like October 7th all over again(!). That execution left a sick feeling in many people’s stomachs that the fate of the hostages in Gaza is bleak. It was, of course, a stark reminder to many of the brutality of Hamas, despite evidence that shows that Hamas has suffered dire losses and that the war has taken a detrimental toll on their manpower and weapon stockpiles.

As of today, there are assumed to be 101 hostages remaining in Gaza, among them roughly 33 are dead.

The failure to gain the release of the hostages – either through a negotiated deal (as was done in November) or through an IDF rescue mission (as occurred in June) – has left many Israelis feeling disillusioned.

A close friend and a cousin of the Goldberg-Polin family who was intimately involved in efforts to save the slain hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, shared with me that as his own son approaches draft age, he will support his combat aspirations, but that he should know that “if God forbid, something happens to him, the State/Government will not necessarily be able/willing to bring him back.”

The hardest reckoning came earlier this week from Rabbi Elchanan Danino, the father of Ori Danino, one of the six hostages murdered last week. In a frank conversation with PM Netanyahu and his wife Sarah, the grieving father told the PM:

“You people on high have to stop dealing with nonsense and stirring up fights and disagreement. We don’t deserve this land without unity. There will be no rebuilding without this land,” he said. “Shut down your office for 10 minutes a day and think about where your Jewish values are. Shut it down, send everyone out, no phones. Spend time alone with your Creator and think, where is God in your picture, where are your Jewish values?”

He additionally shared that he hopes Netanyahu understands that:

“…outside, there is a nation that is waiting for those 101 hostages, to end this terrible thing. That’s what will put this nation back together — to bring them home, to finish this terrible nightmare. I owe it to the rest of the families. As the emissary of my son, I now try to bring together and unify the people of Israel.”

While millions of Israeli citizens and Jews around the world are doing everything they can to bring home the remaining hostages, let us remember that the brunt of responsibility should fall on the terror organization that took them and that is holding them captive.

On Monday, October 9, 2023, the UN Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory observed: “[T]he taking of hostages is a violation of international law and constitutes an international crime. Persons deprived of liberty are protected against murder, torture, and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and sexual violence.”

Similarly, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights “call[ed] on Palestinian armed groups to immediately and unconditionally release all civilians who were captured and are still being held.” He emphasized that “[t]he taking of hostages is prohibited by international law.”

Why is there not more outrage that the Red Cross is continuously denied access and that the world (including the families of the hostages) has no information regarding those held in captivity? Likely, the Red Cross is unable to challenge Hamas on this matter, because Hamas is technically a non-state actor and does not play by any international rules.

Record numbers of Israelis have come out to the streets to protest PM Netanyahu’s apparent abandonment of the hostages, demanding that he work to bring them home alive by ending the war. But what about the North American Jewish community? As it turns out, not surprisingly, we are not speaking in one voice about this.

Some of our large mainstream legacy Jewish organizations have been incredibly supportive of Israel but have not weighed in on the controversial question of prioritizing the hostages through a negotiated deal. I understand their hesitance to appear critical of Israel and to weigh in on a policy that has the potential to affect Israelis directly. But we, in the Reform Movement, believe that we can remain strongly supportive of Israel and of Israelis even while criticizing actions of the Prime Minister that are contrary to our liberal Jewish values and to those values articulated in Israel’s own Declaration of Independence and through Basic Laws.

This month of Elul, we spend time looking into ourselves as we evaluate our own priorities and behavior. We would all benefit from Rabbi Danino’s suggestion to take a pause from our daily routine to ask ourselves what is the Jewish value that’s most important to us. For me, at this moment, the words of Isaiah are most salient: “For a little while I forsook you, But with vast love I will bring you back.”  Let us not forsake any human being and do all we can to bring them home and remember what the Shulchan Aruch teaches that: “Every minute that delays the redemption of the captives – wherever it is possible to do so – is as if blood is being shed”[1] (Shulchan Aruch Yoreh Deah, 252:3) as an equivalent to our directive for Pikuach Nefesh – saving a life.

Shabbat Shalom.