January 31, 2025
I was asked earlier this week if I would stop wearing my “Bring Them Home Now” dog tag necklace when all the hostages returned home. I responded that I would gladly take it off tomorrow if they were all home. Each week, we wait with bated breath for the announcement of which hostages will be released. As family, we are overcome with joy for those who get to embrace their loved ones. And, as family, we are pained by the weight of the sorrow of those who still await the return of their lands. Just yesterday we welcomed home Agam, Arbel, and Gadi, along with five Thai workers who have been held hostage. We anticipate the return of more hostages tomorrow (at the time of this writing, the names of them have not yet been released). We anxiously await the return of the Bibas family, with 5-year-old Ariel, and now 2-year-old Kfir (he was 9 months old on October 7 when he was taken hostage.) The images of the young women surrounded by Hamas terrorists are striking images. The four young Israeli women soldiers standing up in the face of their captors, waving, and not allowing themselves to feel inferior reflects their strength.
Earlier this week, I came across this poem by Rachel Srulovitz, originally written in Hebrew.
There are mothers
Who birthed their daughters twice
The first time
They arrived from the Garden of Eden
The second time
From Hell
Then as today
They waited to hear the crying
That says it’s okay now
To breathe.
These words demonstrate the similarities between two moments of arrival, both accompanied with tears and a desire to breath. A first time from joy; a second time from pain. These words speak to the varied emotions hostage families and the entire Jewish people have been feeling for many months. We all know the pain, and at the same time, we can’t know the pain. We will continue this emotional roller coaster for weeks. As we await the return of the remaining hostages and each time they come home, we say Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu Melech HaOlam, matir asurim. Blessed are You, Eternal One, who frees the captives.
After this weekend, I will be away on a month-long sabbatical. I will return to the office at the beginning of March. Each year, I am grateful for this time to study and be with my family. This year, I enter this time struck by seemingly existential questions about Judaism and Jewish life. I am reflecting on the animating forces of fear and pride, power and powerlessness, anxiety and hope. There have been many texts written in the last two years that reflect on these themes and what it means to be Jewish at this moment in history and how we navigate the world moving forward. I am hoping to take all that I learn and think about what it means for us at Beth Tikvah and how we might reflect on these themes as a community. I am also eager to continue to think about how we can find the best ways to respond to the needs of our community based on reflection from these scholars.
As we navigate this very challenging moment in the world, I hope that we can continue to come together to learn, celebrate, pray, and support one another.
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Rick Kellner