Walking on Behalf of Their Lives

It’s hard to live an “involved” Jewish life and not think about what goes on in Israel on a regular basis. Having a daughter, son-in-law and five grandchildren who live in Israel magnifies that thinking – along with having a brother and sister-in-law and many nieces and nephews there.

The events of October 7 made those thoughts even more prevalent – at least for me. That fateful Sukkot when Israel was attacked, three of my grandchildren were visiting Israel. On October 9, my oldest grandchild, who was still in Israel because the family’s flight back was canceled, called me and said, “Grandma, I am NEVER coming back to this country.” Fortunately, that statement was fleeting, spoken out of momentary fear and too many trips into the mamad (shelter). That grandson, Benny, is currently spending his gap year in Israel, studying at a yeshiva.

For Jewish American Heritage Month this year, as chair of Hadassah’s Jewish Education Department, I posed a question regarding what our members had done since October 7 as a show of support for Israel and/or its hostages. Of course, I couldn’t pose the question without answering it myself!

Days after October 7, I started following an American oleh (immigrant to Israel) named “Arky.” Arky, a tour guide, was also a reservist in the Israeli army. His job when the war began was to retrieve the bodies — or body parts — of Israelis who were killed in Gaza. He liked to share uplifting stories on Instagram or at least stories which would move his followers.

That first week, Arky suggested that everyone should light an extra Shabbat candle. He hoped that together we would bring more light into the world. And so, I added a candle to the five I already was lighting weekly. Today, I am still lighting that extra candle. In addition to the regular brachot (blessings) I say over my Shabbat candles, I often add the prayer for soldiers.

In December 2023, during a visit to my daughter and her family in Israel, we all volunteered to prepare sandwiches and packaged snacks for the soldiers who came to one of the rest stations, a pinah chamah (which translates from the Hebrew to “warm corner”).

While we were there, a group of soldiers came in and spoke to us. One of the things the group’s leader said still stands out in my mind: “This will not be a short war. It will take at least a year if not longer to be over.” How right he was!

Every week in shul (synagogue) on Shabbat, our rabbi recites two paragraphs from the book of Tehillim (The Book of Psalms) and I very solemnly repeat each word. The names of the soldiers who have been killed each week are announced and the whole congregation reads the prayer for soldiers. I am always especially moved when this prayer is also sung by a chazzan (cantor).

About two months after the war began, the newly formed Run for Their Lives group began sponsoring a weekly Sunday morning walk around Votee Park in Teaneck, N.J. The walk is about 1 1/4 miles. During the walk, we recite different chants and the names of all those — dead or alive — who are still in captivity. At the end of the walk, before leaving, we gather together to say a prayer from Tehillim, sing a song of unity,  Acheinu (Our Brothers) and end with Hatikvah, Israel’s national anthem.

Each week, before departing, the person in charge says, “I hope we won’t have to be here next week, but if we do, I’ll see you at 10 am.” We’ve been walking since January 2024 through all kinds of weather. I’ve only missed the walks when I’ve been out of town. There have been occasions when I might not have wanted to walk (too cold, too hot or raining) but then I thought to myself, “The hostages don’t want to be where they are either but they have no choice” and off I go.

Unfortunately, the number of people who walk weekly has shrunk. I clearly know that the Hamas terrorists aren’t seeing the videos of our group walking and they wouldn’t care less if they did. However, we’ve been told that the brief videos that each of the Run for Their Lives groups makes are shown to the family members of the hostages and they feel supported knowing that their relatives are not forgotten. So I will keep going each week– yelling, “Let them go NOW!”

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Miriam is a member of the Hadassah Writers’ Circle, a dynamic and diverse writing group for leaders and members to express their thoughts and feelings about all the things Hadassah does to make the world a better place. It’s where they celebrate their personal Hadassah journeys and share their Jewish values, family traditions and interpretations of Jewish texts. Since 2019, the Hadassah Writers’ Circle has published nearly 500 columns in The Times of Israel Blogs and other Jewish media outlets. Interested? Please contact hwc@hadassah.org.