‘A fervent belief in good’

Listen to how Eli describes one of his fellow Hostages, then 25-year-old Eliyah Cohen. “Since he was a little boy, he has been highly independent. At a very young age he flunked out of formal education, but his survival skills are sharp.” Then Eli adds, “I see him growing up in the darkness of captivity, learning to share, teaching himself English. I see his mind opening up as he comes face-to-face with the unfamiliar.” (P.122)

As we continue to absorb the blessed-reality this week of 20-lives back where they belong, I find myself driven to get to know their stories. When they’re ready to share them, I’ll be thirsty to listen and learn. Until then, I draw strength from examples like Eliyah’s.

Eli then offers a final observation about Eliyah. He’d been dismissive of college. “But now, all of a sudden, he’s in a different place. He dreams of studying. He has a will to succeed. A fervent belief in good. And all of this is happening here, in these foul and gloomy tunnels.” 

I find this so telling. Especially for us. The past two years have had more than their share of the foul and the gloomy. And yet, if we make returning Hostages like Eli and Eliyah our teachers, then goodness can make a comeback. 

God’s most memorable observation in this week’s portion of Torah is “Behold, it is good”. Seven times in the seven days of creation it’s said. Almost as if a day, as a unit of time, gets defined by being able to salute the good. 

Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel wrote that the Torah begins not with wickedness and the human tendency to sin, but with a sense of wonder and the capacity to do the will of God. That’s why a belief in the good is so pronounced. 

May we continue to learn from Eliyah, as we come face-to-face with the unfamiliar. And may we too find, from amidst these foul and gloomy tunnels: our relief ripening into our belief. Am Yisrael Chai.