59 empty seats, an incomplete Passover

“First Laila Seder as a free man will be amazing. Each word of the Haggadah will be with meaning.” These are the words of former hostage Eli Sharabi given during a pre-Pesach talk I attended. When Sharabi was released, the whole nation was broken upon hearing his story. What once was a happy family of four, was shattered. Eli Sharabi’s wife and daughters were taken from him. During the talk, Sharabi recounted how, on October 7th, he chose not to resist the Hamas terrorists who took him hostage, hoping that by doing so, they would spare his wife and daughters because of their British citizenship.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be back”. Those were his last words, echoed to his family. Those were the words that sustained him during captivity, the hope he tried to hang onto for 491 days. In captivity, he selflessly took on a fatherly role for the younger hostages with him. This selflessness continues even after his release as Sharabi travels the world to fight for the remaining hostages. In Gaza, Sharabi spoke of what it’s like to have absolutely no control over your life. Counting the seconds because it’s all you can do. Hoping for an extra pita bread which to Eli, felt like a sign from Hashem.

For Sharabi, freedom now means simply having control over his actions. For Sharabi, freedom is not to be taken for granted. Freedom is what the Jewish people throughout history have countlessly been stripped of. Today we are free, in our land, and we can never take this for granted. This Pesach, we all ask ourselves difficult questions. How can we celebrate freedom while 59 hostages are still brutally held in Gaza? How can we celebrate freedom when 59 hostages’ families and hundreds of bereaved families of soldiers have empty chairs at their Seders? But I believe it is even more important to celebrate Pesach this year, to celebrate freedom. This year, the words of the Haggadah are more than mere words but instructions. When we are told that in “each and every generation, a person is obligated to see himself as if he left Egypt”, for our generation this means that each and everyone one of us should ask ourselves what more can we do for the hostages to be free? It means to speak out, to pray, to read their stories, to support their families, to not stop until they are all home. We all know the story of Pesach, but the story of the 59 hostages is still not over, we can still make it one of freedom. 

For Eli, every day in captivity he faced a choice. A choice to live or not. Eli Sharabi chose life. Eli Sharabi continues to choose life. He even said that he will never say never to rebuilding a family in the future. Just as Sharabi thinks of rebuilding his life in “parallel to his pain and grief”, Am Israel will be able to rebuild once our 59 hostages come home. From Galut to Geula . This is the destiny of the Jewish people.

In the words of Rabbi Elhanan Danino, father of murdered hostage Ori Danino, “now is not the time for ideologies, but for saving lives.”

Hag Sameah and may all our hostages come home.