On Simchat Torah, our Itai and 100 others are still hostage. It’s unbearable
Simchat Torah was always a time of joy and celebration for Jewish communities. But for our family, and for so many others, it has become and will always be a day of sadness due to the Simchat Torah attack on Israel. It was one year ago that the Hamas massacre shattered countless lives and plunged our families into a nightmare that continues to this day.
In the days before the last Simchat Torah, our lives were simple, our problems trivial. A year ago, we knew where our son was and slept the night. A year ago, we knew he was alive and what he had for breakfast. But since that day, 101 hostages, including our Itay who is one of the seven US citizens held hostage, remain captives of Hamas in Gaza.
No, we are not in the same place we were last year, or even a few months ago. Hamas’s military power continues to be beaten down, and Yahya Sinwar’s recent death should mark an inflection point to bring the hostage negotiations to bear fruit.
The fight to bring them home is far from over. Sinwar’s death is not the end, and it does not undo the damage he ordered to be inflicted on so many families. For us, it only reinforces the urgency of bringing every single hostage back. Sinwar’s death, while notable and just, must not distract from the ultimate goal – to bring back every single one of the 101 hostages. Every move that is made must support this Jewish value of celebrating life over death. Judaism says that saving a single life is equal to saving an entire universe and the obligation of redeeming captives (Pidyon Shvuyim) is the greatest mitzvah there is. We must remind our leaders of the Jewish compass and the higher standards they must adhere to.
We have spent the past year advocating and fighting for Itay and the other hostages. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who personally promised us swift action as far back as July when we met him together with President Biden, has failed the hostages and their families. Each time we seem close to a deal, something comes undone. Hamas moves the goalpost, the US fails to apply effective pressure, Israel adds new clarifications and a million other reasons have kept one of the stated goals of this war, and the dream of so many of us, from being actualized.
Each day that passes us without progress on a deal is compounding the danger to the hostages and time is running out. This is true both to the living and those killed whose bodies are being held hostage.
The empty chair at our table is a constant reminder of what has been taken from us, and the one-year mark is a grim symbol of how much time has passed without resolution.
We call on the Israeli government, led by Prime Minister Netanyahu, on the United States, and on the international community, to be bold, to show leadership, and to intensify efforts to secure the release of the hostages. We call on Netanyahu to come out with an attractive, time-limited deal to get a hostage deal done. We call on supporters abroad to ensure that your elected officials hear your voice and feel your pressure. The pressure on Hamas must not ease up, and we must not allow ourselves to grow complacent. The release of the hostages must remain the top priority – above politics, above negotiations, above all else.
As the first anniversary of Simchat Torah approaches, we reflect on a year filled with unbearable pain and endless waiting. How much longer will Prime Minister Netanyahu and other world leaders allow this to continue? We ask everyone to cherish their loved ones, to hold them a little tighter, and to consider what they would do if faced with our circumstances. Would you not go to the ends of the earth to bring them home?
One year on from the worst day of our lives, because their families can’t hold them in their arms, the least we can do is keep the hostages in our hearts and minds and do everything we can to bring them home.
A year ago, we awoke to a Simchat Torah morning that would soon be forever marked with fear, confusion, rage, and sorrow. It has been a whole year and we can not let another one pass without them.
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Co-authored with Itai’s mother, Hagit.