Our Broken Heart into the Light

I woke up this morning devastated by the news that the bodies of 6 hostages were found by the IDF in a Hamas tunnel in Rafah, shot dead at close range. All young, in the prime of their lives. Like most of you, my feelings are a heartbreaking mix of crushed spirit, rage, compassion, sadness and uncertainty. The impossible plight of the hostage families — their lives suspended for 330 days in a torturous reality — as well as the hell that the hostages endured have sat like boulders cloaked in heavy moss in my mind and heart since Oct 7. Rachel and John Goldberg Polin, perhaps the most recognizable faces and voices representing hostage families, have tirelessly campaigned with countless others on the global stage for close to a year to get the hostages released. Rachel’s voice, her poise, intelligence, determination and grace under unimaginable pain and disorientation have blown me away. As the number taped to her chest increased day by day, though her voice remained resolute, we have all watched Rachel’s physique shrink into almost nothingness. Her son Hersh’s face on posters and large banners has greeted me everywhere I walk in Jerusalem over the past year.

As I process the tragedies, I am starkly reminded of the shocking gut-punch I felt as a young adult when I discovered that Anne Frank and her sister Margot were killed only two weeks before British soldiers liberated the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp where they were. Two weeks?! Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eden Yerushalmi, Ori Danino, Alex Lubnov, Carmel Gat, and Almog Sarusi survived more than 325 days of unimaginable hell and torture only to be shot ruthlessly at close range by Hamas shortly before Israeli soldiers had the opportunity to save them. Like the Nazis, everything this evil terror organization does, everything, is with one intent: to destroy, dehumanize, and humiliate Jews. Imagine that being a people’s raison d’etre. And this is what the world continues to invest 100s of billions of dollars in. If it weren’t true, it would be wholly unbelievable.

And it is important to know that these hostages didn’t merely endure and survive in impossible darkness. They brought light and love wherever they could. On Oct 7, while hiding in a bomb shelter, Hersh and his best friend, Aner, caught grenades and threw them back out of the shelter, saving many lives. Aner did it 8 times till he was killed. Hersh lost one of his arms and was kidnapped. Ori, having driven himself and friends away from the music festival, decided to turn back in hopes of rescuing more people. It was while turning back that he was abducted by Hamas terrorists. Released hostages called Carmel — an occupational therapist — their “guardian angel,” describing how she taught the hostages held with her in the tunnels, yoga and meditation to keep their spirits up and help them survive captivity. Many of them were children. Almog stayed behind with his long-time girlfriend, Shahar, tending to her wounds. Shahar died and Almog was taken captive. And Alex helped other Nova attendees survive the attack and escape the scene before being taken hostage.

It is undeniable that as individuals and families, so many of our Jewish brothers and sisters are broken. And it might take them a lifetime to recover. As a people, however, we will never be broken. We are a people who does not glorify death or embrace revenge or bitterness. Instead, we survive each tragedy and move forward with love and light. We are the dawn, the bright light after the most intense darkness. John and Rachel’s hands are now empty of their only son, but no one on earth who has come to know them over the last year, believes they will use those hands for anything but good and kindness towards humanity.

As a new Israeli citizen, I graciously respect all sides and opinions of the growing intensity of conflicts in this country. I honestly believe that each group is passionately advocating for what they feel is the right thing for Am Yisrael and Eretz Yisrael. And in the end, love will prevail. Death is shocking, jarring, a powerful blow, permanent. But make no mistake . . . love has the same power and permanence. As Shlomo Hamelech so eloquently wrote in Shir Hashirim (8:6):

שִׂימֵ֨נִי כַֽחוֹתָ֜ם עַל־לִבֶּ֗ךָ כַּֽחוֹתָם֙ עַל־זְרוֹעֶ֔ךָ כִּֽי־עַזָּ֤ה כַמָּ֨וֶת֙ אַֽהֲבָ֔ה קָשָׁ֥ה כִשְׁא֖וֹל קִנְאָ֑ה רְשָׁפֶ֕יהָ רִשְׁפֵּ֕י אֵ֖שׁ שַׁלְהֶֽבֶתְיָֽה

“Place me like a seal on your heart, liked a seal on your arm, for love is as strong as death, zeal is as strong as the grave; its coals are coals of fire of a great flame!

Hersh, Eden, Ori, Alex, Carmel, Almog, Yotam (Haim), Alon (Shamriz), Samer (Talalka), Yehuda (Becher), Aner (Shapira), Binyamin (Airley), Elisha (Lowenstern), Rose (Lubin), Arnon (Zamora), Bilha & Yakov (Inon), and all the thousands of innocent, holy people who died על קידוש השם: We will never forget you. We will wear you as a permanent seal on our hearts and on our arms, encompassing the totality of love in both feeling and commitment/action. Your light is already lighting our way forward.

In the merit of all the remaining hostages being released alive very soon.

לעילוי נשמת מלכה בת חנוך

לעילוי נשמת יהודה בן יצחק

לעילוי נשמת רחל בת חנוך

לעילוי נשמת מרים בת חנוך