A Nation Turns Its Lonely Eyes to You: The Return of Ran Gvili
The ordeal of the last hostage seized by Hamas and taken to Gaza more than 843 days ago came to an end this week with the return of the body of Ran Gvili and with his arrival at his final resting place today. It has not gone unnoticed that it coincides with this week’s Torah portion which tells us that “Moses took with him the bones of Joseph, (from Egypt) who had exacted an oath from the children of Israel, saying, “God will be sure to take notice of you: then you shall carry up my bones from here with you.”
The reception in Israel was one of mixed emotions—pleased that he was finally brought home to receive a proper burial, intertwined with sorrow and grief that it was his body, and not the living man that was returned, coupled with a sigh of relief that for the first time since 2014, there are no Israelis being held in Gaza by Hamas.
The roads carrying the 23-year old’s body to the cemetery where he was to be buried were lined with thousands of people who never met him. The nation paused to witness the funeral which was packed with hundreds of ordinary Israelis and the nation’s leaders,
Every Israeli knows his name. Everyone knows his story. Everyone felt a profound sense of relief that he was finally home.
As his mother said, “Our pride is much, much stronger than our pain.”
Moments like this are difficult for outsiders to fully grasp.
This is what it is like when a nation is a family—an extended family where, despite deep divisions and constant contention, and despite what many outsiders may not understand, there remains a shared sense of fate and destiny that ultimately overrides internal differences.
I think of the Simon and Garfunkel line, “Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you.” It captures the feeling in Israel. All eyes have been focused on the return of this hero, who, despite being injured, rushed to defend his fellow countrymen as soon as he learned they were under attack. He was as has been noted, “the first one in and the last one out.”
His courage and the outpouring from across the country reveal a kind of national intimacy that is rare in most other nations. It is a source of its strength and resilience, a distinguishing characteristic that makes Israel unique and which its enemies and detractors will never understand.
