Standing Tall With Pride
January 26, 2026 will be remembered as the day when Israelis and Jews everywhere breathed a sigh of relief and felt a heavy weight removed from our backs. For more than two years we woke up every morning and lay down every evening asking: will we bring all of our soldiers home? For several days, hundreds of Israeli soldiers dug into the bloodstained ground of Gaza, into that unholy strip of land where life has little meaning and showed the world that to us every life is sacred.
Watching our soldiers gathered in large circles around the body of Sargent-Major Ran Gvili, singing Ani Maamim (I believe), brought tears to the eyes of even the most seasoned broadcasters who reported on this monumental event. Finally, for the first time since 2014, not one Israeli soldier or one Israeli body remains hostage in Gaza. The Israeli dictum of “no soldier left behind” and the Jewish devotion to the redemption of captives (pidyon shvuyim) is a foundational belief of our people. Although 249 captives had been brought home, we were incomplete, bent and bruised, while one body remained in Gaza. Now that body was coming home.
The World thinks that we are obsessed. With all the dead and all the destruction in the Israel-Hamas war, what was so important about the body of one dead Israeli policeman? The World misses the point. Our obsession is that we, the Jewish people, sanctify life. Our sworn enemies like Hamas sanctify death. They glory in martyrdom. They dance in the street and give out candy when they kill.
Among the major killing grounds for Hamas during the October 7, 2023 massacre was a field near a Kibbutz named Re’im. The name of the Kibbutz stands for friendship and camaraderie. The targets of the attack were participants at a SuperNova festival that was to celebrate unity, peace and freedom through music. More than 360 people were slaughtered at the festival, 44 were kidnapped and hundreds more were injured. The victims were unarmed civilians who did not resist the terrorists. Still, they were mowed down mercilessly, and the perpetrators glorified their actions using their own videos to document the violence. Ironically, many of the Nova participants and others butchered on October 7 were from the peace camp. This did not deter Hamas.
A central prayer in the Jewish liturgy is the Shema; Here O Israel the Lord is G-d the Lord is One. This prayer is also recited when one thinks they are about to die. Many of Hamas’s victims at Nova died with the Shema on their lips. Immediately before reciting the Shema in the morning service, we ask HaShem to return us standing proudly to our Land. Through the ages Jews in the Diaspora have often been depicted as a beaten, downtrodden people bent at the waist and groveling under various potentates. Now we stand straight and unbowed.
Since 1948 we have had the privilege of living as a free people in our own land. We still have many challenges to overcome. However, with the return of all our hostages we can stand tall and smile. Our young soldiers stood united to return the body of Ran Gvili to rest in peace. If, with HaShem’s guidance, we as a people can emulate their actions, the future can be approached with confidence, hope and resilience. Ani Maamim-I believe.