From Miketz to Miracles — We Will Dance Again

A Reflection on Redemption and Unity

Parshat Miketz, tells the story of Yosef — a man who was taken from the pit, shaved, and brought before Pharaoh after two years of unjust imprisonment. In a moment that could have been lifted straight from today’s headlines, Yosef’s story is one of redemption: from the depths of despair to the heights of power, rising to become second only to the king himself.

While we are not reading Miketz this week, we hold the belief that we were meant to be visited by Yosef last night in the Sukkah. He is considered one of the Ushpizin, and his story holds so much symbolism.

I can’t help but feel that we, as a Jewish nation, are living through our own modern version of such a moment — our hostages themselves are modern-day Yosef stories.

We are witnessing their return — what a miracle! This is our own splitting of the sea or revelation at Sinai. A time of profound unity, clarity, and closeness to God. The return of our living hostages has stirred within us a whirlwind of emotion — joy, gratitude, grief, and awe all intertwined.

This has not been an easy process. The sacrifice our nation has endured is immeasurable. The soldiers we have lost — brave souls who gave everything to bring our people home — are priceless beyond words. And yet, even amidst the pain, there is a duality: pure joy and euphoria as we witness those who were held captive, starved, and tortured finally return home. Their freedom has brought tears of relief to their families and inspired the entire Jewish world.

Our allies — those whose moral compass never wavered — also share in this moment. They rejoiced with us in this miraculous turning of history.

When I held the lulav again today, I felt its deeper meaning more than ever. Each of the four species represents a different kind of Jew, but only when united can we fulfill the mitzvah. Without each other, we are incomplete. Just as our people are incomplete when even one of us is missing. Now, with our brothers and sisters home, our collective soul feels more whole. And yet, we continue to wait — to bring back our deceased for proper burial, to achieve true wholeness as a nation.

This moment is larger than all of us. It is divine in its proportions — a miracle in every sense.

Two thoughts stay with me:

First, after witnessing a miracle of such magnitude, we cannot simply go back to ‘business as usual.’ This is a time for introspection — to renew our relationships, to heal divisions, to learn once more how to love one another with brotherly love. We have been given the gift of renewal. Let us not waste it.

Second, after so many sleepless nights — carrying the burden of pain and hope for two years — we, too, have been released from our emotional and spiritual prisons. We can finally breathe again.

At one point, I told my family that God had released the hostages just before Simchat Torah, so that they could dance again. But upon second thought, I reached out again and realized that it wasn’t simply that God gave them the opportunity to return — though surely, He did. Rather, in the larger picture, what He truly granted was something even greater — He returned them to us, to make us whole again, and to allow us to dance again on Simchat Torah.

That was the deeper gift — given not only to each individual hostage and their families, but to us all as a nation. It was a gift of wholeness, of healing, and of divine love.

Now is the time to heal. To rebuild. To embrace. To bridge our divides and to see, once again, the impossible become possible.

Chag Sameach.

May this be a season of rebirth, renewal, and unity for all of Am Yisrael.