October 17, 2025
This past week has been an emotional roller coaster. It began with great joy as the 20 living hostages returned home to their families. That joy was met with the heights of dancing and with Torah scrolls as we celebrated Simchat Torah. With the ebb and flow of emotions, those feelings of joy were matched by pain as we began to learn about the ways in which the hostages were tortured during their time in captivity. From not bathing, to minimal food, to being chained for months, we cannot imagine their pain. Our hearts are also broken for the families of the 19 deceased hostages whose remains have not yet been returned. It is our hope and prayer that they will be returned home as soon as possible. These families cannot truly begin the grieving process until they are home.
During the period of captivity, there is a song that has become an anthem for Israelis. In Hebrew, it is called “HaBaytah, coming home.” The song, written by Ehud Manor and made famous by Yardena Arazi, was inspired by the pain of the 1982 Lebanon War. After performing for the soldiers, Arazi told Manor of her experiences, and he wrote the song, calling for a return home. As Lior Zaltzman wrote this week for Kveller, it also calls for a return to a place of ideals and democratic values.
The lyrics express deep hopes and longing for the return of everyone in despair. This is the translation of the lyrics:
Another year has passed, another year of madness, the weeds have grown in the path and the garden. The wind sighed opening the shutter and banging the old wall, as if calling: Back home, back home, it’s time to return from the mountains from foreign fields. The day is fading and there is no sign. Back home, back home, before the light is dimmed. Cold nights, bitter nights, closing in now. Until the dawn I pray for you, bound in the grip of fear I hear steps. Back home, back home, because it hasn’t yet been given as was promised a long time ago.
To mark this time of despair, we have added the ritual of praying for the return of the hostages to our Shabbat services by singing of the Acheinu. Adding this prayer has helped remind us that we are connected to the larger Jewish people; it has kept our focus on the hostages. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks teaches us that “ritual turns us from lonely individuals into members of the people of the covenant.” His words remind us that we have a collective obligation to one another as a people and to the lofty partnership we share with God.
It feels like there has been a shift, and perhaps that shift demands the creation of a new ritual. We are in the process of discussing what that could look like and over the next several weeks, we may try several different rituals to see what fits. In this moment, it is important for us to take the lead of the Hostages and Missing Families Forum. They are reminding us that their world is incomplete.
Some have chosen to take off their yellow ribbons and Bring Them Home Now dog tag chains. I am continuing to wear mine because the hostages are not all home. And the question remains: what shall we do? This week, our Shabbat table that has been set for the hostages will hold 19 yellow flowers as a reminder that this color symbolizes the hostages. We will offer a prayer for the brokenness that the families of the unreturned hostages are feeling, but we will not sing Acheinu. (There is debate as to whether this should be said only for living hostages. As we study more, we may decide to add it back). Next week, we will offer a different ritual to replace the flowers and our sign.
We have also been singing Hatikvah each week since the war began. As we consider changes, we will be looking at adding different options of prayers for the State of Israel which would be traditionally said in the synagogue. These past two years have carried so much pain and have taught us many lessons. Among the most important lessons is our connection to the Jewish people and the critical need for the existence of the State of Israel.
In these moments of continued pain, we pray for the return of the remains of the hostages still in Gaza so that their families and the Jewish people can grieve and begin the path toward healing.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Rick Kellner