The Cry of a Jewish Baby the World Chose to Ignore

The 24th of Shevat, February 22, 2025: A Divine Message in a Time of Darkness

On October 7, 2023, Kfir Bibas, a eight-month-old baby, was kidnapped and dragged into the terror tunnels of Gaza.

A baby. Eight months old. Taken from his mother’s arms.

It has been over 500 days—500 days of uncertainty, of whispers in the dark, of a world that has moved on while his family remained frozen in horror.

Where was he?

Did he cry for his mother in the blackness of the tunnels? Did he reach for her warmth, only to be held by monsters? Did his tiny body shiver from hunger, from fear, from the cruel indifference of those who used him as a pawn in their game of terror?

A baby. A child who never got to walk. Never got to speak. Never understood the world that stole him.

And then, hope.

His father, Yarden, was released. Could it be? Could they bring home the children? Could there still be a miracle?

But then, the bombshell.

Kfir was dead. Ariel was dead. 

Not just murdered—erased.

Hamas sent back a woman’s corpse, but it wasn’t even Shiri. It was some nameless, faceless body, thrown at the world like garbage. A final act of cruelty. A final way to erase her, to erase her child, to erase our pain.

And the world?

The world remained silent.

They told us never again. They told us humanity had evolved, that we no longer live in an age where Jewish babies are taken from their cribs, where families are burned alive.

But October 7 proved them wrong.

And for 500 days, the world has proven them wrong again.

If there was ever a moral red line, surely this was it. Surely, the entire world—Jews and non-Jews alike—should have risen and screamed in one voice: “Return that baby now!”

Yet the world was silent.

The United Nations convened over Israeli zoning permits but said nothing about a Jewish baby held hostage.
The human rights organizations who decry “oppression” were nowhere to be found.
The media that fills pages with war stories gave no space for a murdered Jewish child.

Let’s be brutally honest:

If Israelis had kidnapped a Palestinian baby, CNN would be running 24/7 coverage.

But because Kfir was Jewish, his name was barely mentioned outside the Jewish world.

A eight-month-old baby was taken. Held captive. Then killed.

And the world called for a ceasefire.

What kind of world is this?

What do we do?

What do you do?

What will you tell your grandchildren when they ask:

“What did you do when a Jewish baby was taken and left to die?”

What will you say?

That you read an article and shook your head?
That you whispered ‘how sad’ and moved on?
That you let the world stay silent because it was easier than standing up?

Or will you say:

I fought for him. I screamed for him. I did something.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, understood this moment before it came.

He cried out:

“How much longer must the Jewish people wait? Why are we not demanding—literally demanding—from G‑d: ‘Ad Mosai?!’ How Much Longer?”

For 2,000 years, Jews suffered and waited. No more.

Now, as the era of redemption nears, our words and actions carry more spiritual power than ever.

We must cry out to our Divine Father with all our strength.

Enough is enough.

We must shake the heavens and demand that G‑d bring the ultimate redemption now.

A Jewish baby was kidnapped, held hostage, and murdered. And the world stood by, silent.

What will you tell your children when they ask, “What did you do?” Will you say you read about it and moved on? Or will you say, “I fought for him. I did something.”

A child’s life was stolen. Replace that darkness with light.

• Light Shabbat candles for Kfir. A light stolen must be replaced with infinite light.
• Wrap tefillin in his memory. The Nazis stripped us of tefillin. The terrorists tried to strip us of life. Fight back with holiness.
• Speak up. Call your leaders. Post online. Confront the lies. Shout the truth until the world has no choice but to listen.
• And above all—add goodness and holiness to the world.

For every moment of suffering, there must be a thousand sparks of goodness.
For every act of cruelty, there must be ten acts of holiness.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe taught us that we do not fight evil with words alone—we fight it with light.

Do something.

On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month—the month of Shevat—this word of G-d came to the prophet Zechariah son of Berechiah son of Iddo.

O G-d of Hosts! How long will You withhold pardon from Jerusalem and the towns of Judah, which You placed under a curse seventy years ago?

And G-d answered with words of comfort and justice:

“I am very jealous for Jerusalem—for Zion. And I am very angry with those nations that are at ease; for I was only angry a little, but they overdid the punishment. Therefore, thus says G-d: I graciously return to Jerusalem. My House shall be built in her, and the measuring line shall be stretched over Jerusalem. Proclaim further: My towns shall yet overflow with bounty. For G-d will again comfort Zion—and will again choose Jerusalem.” (Zechariah 1:7-17)

This prophecy was given on the twenty-fourth day of Shevat, a date that this year falls on February 22, 2025.

This is not a coincidence.

G-d has not forgotten Jerusalem.
G-d has not forgotten His people.
G-d has not forgotten the suffering of the innocent.

And neither will we.

The hostages will return. Jerusalem will stand. Justice will prevail.

The prophecy of Zechariah reminds us that even in the darkest moments, redemption is near.

May we see it fulfilled now.