Unity in this one moment

Wherever we stand on the political or religious scale, and whatever our feelings towards the current hostage plan, I believe that ALL of us are united in our instinctive reaction to this photo.

Naama Levy and her fellow hostages have been a part of my life for nearly 500 days. The footage of October 7 haunted me, the video released of her and her team being beaten and held, the ongoing prayer and tears over her fate have been with many of us.

This picture is simply worth everything: she is with her parents, she is home.

We all know the terrible consequences of dealing with Hamas and the implications for the future.

We ALL want the hostages back, we ALL want terrorists not released. We are unfortunately stuck in an impossible situation where no one has the perfect answer, and we are all creating our own ethical shopping lists and scales. Religious leaders are divided as are we all. The truth is, each one could be right. But the fact that we all feel the pain of the issue and care so much for the future of the hostages, soldiers, and our people should be taken as a sign that we are all invested in the same objective.

We are one people at the end of the day, and Naama matters to us all as if she were part of our family. We wish her and all the hostages home and safe.

Maybe, hopefully, as some people found meaning and purpose in life after the hell of Auschwitz, our hostages that come home alive and the families of those who don’t will somehow find meaning in theirs. I pray it is so.

I am less an optimist and more someone who has hope. As the late Rabbi Sacks eloquently put it:

“Optimism and hope are not the same. Optimism is the belief that the world is changing for the better; hope is the belief that, together, we can make the world better. Optimism is a passive virtue, hope an active one. It needs no courage to be an optimist, but it takes a great deal of courage to hope. The Hebrew Bible is not an optimistic book. It is, however, one of the great literatures of hope.”

To Heal a Fractured World, p. 166

As long as we care for each of these beautiful souls and as long as our young like these 4 girls are prepared to serve our country and protect it, we are going to survive and ultimately thrive.