Every one of us has experienced periods in our lifetime where we thought that time would never move on. Some things are totally ridiculous in retrospect and others are much more serious. Waiting to find out to which high school or college our children have been accepted. Totally agonizing for some. The year or years of shidduchim when parents and their children try to figure out how to successfully maneuver the system. The nine months of anticipation waiting for a baby to be born. Lehavdil, nine months of sitting at someone’s bedside or chair as they receive chemo treatments.
Whatever it is, the year becomes totally stressful; however, there is an anticipation of the time coming to an end.
Let’s think back to the past year. Oct. 7, 2023, the most gut-wrenching day I can remember in our history with no end in sight. There is no way I can fathom the heartbreak that the families of the hostages are living through nor the suffering that each individual hostage has to endure.
I found myself throughout Oct. 7 of this year constantly rubbing my hostage necklace as if that would directly connect me to them in some way. In January I was there. I walked through the fields of Nova and saw the memorial set up with the names and pictures of those who were killed. I watched as the “security” person on our bus found the picture on a stick of his beloved landsman from France who had made aliyah with him and who was his comrade in the army.
The expression on his face was too painful and I wanted him to have the privacy that he needed at that moment.
We concluded our visit with the recitation of the Kel Meleh Rachamim and from there drove on to the “cemetery” of cars piled one on top of each other. Cars which had been totally destroyed, each with a yellow ribbon indicating that ZAKA had removed any body parts or blood before leaving them there. In typical Israeli fashion, from our visit to the Gaza area we went to partake in and observe the miraculous retreat set up for soldiers by three brothers, Kobi, Eitan and Dror.
The Shuva Achim retreat is a rest station for chayalim coming and going out of Gaza. It is about three miles from the border. There is nothing that has not been thought of to provide comfort to the soldiers, from fresh clothing, every kind of food, massages and plain old rooms to rest.
Nevertheless, the war is escalating and the hostages are still being held in who knows what condition or even if they are still alive.
Just a few days ago I read the amazing news that Doron Katz-Asher, a hostage who was released together with her daughters aged 4 and 2 after being held hostage for 49 days, was thrilled to announce that she is expecting her third child with her husband. During the attack her mother was killed and several other family members remain missing. In the midst of all of this horror there is beauty and a sense of hope for the future. The nation rejoices with her.
As we approach Yom Kippur I think of all of us davening and beseeching Hashem to answer all of our tefilot. That is an overwhelming responsibility. As much as we need to see the end of the war and the release of the hostages we also need to pray for our immediate family, our friends and people we know from various parts of life. None of us has any guarantees of what will be tomorrow. Life is so unpredictable.
I have been following some of the hostages who were released and heard their stories. They are looking toward the future. Last night at the JFNNJ (Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey) commemoration of Oct. 7 we listened to a 17-year-old girl describe her terrifying escape, which she was fortunate enough to make with her triathlon team who were training when all of the mayhem began. She kept thinking she was imagining things. Suddenly there were shots flying and she began noticing bodies and blood everywhere. (Think of our own children and grandchildren having to live through such unimaginable horror.)
I listened to a soldier speak of being on his tank and watching four of his fellow soldiers being blown up and killed. How is it possible to move on from all of this? He somehow has the tenacity to relay his message and move on with life. I spoke with Rabbi Leo Dee, who addressed our Jewish Link Mission in January, and I was amazed that despite the tragic loss of his wife and two daughters he was making the effort to move on and spread the message of emunah.
These are our heroes. Let us continue to support them and pray for everyone to be released as quickly as possible. Yom Kippur will pass and we must continue to do everything possible to show support to those locally who need our help and of course to our brothers and sisters in Israel. As the chayal said, when the kitchen on their temporary base was blown up, it took no time for food to begin arriving from yishuvim close to their location and farther away. He emphasized once again what it means to get a note or a picture from one of us expressing our pride and love for them.
Let’s keep the mitzvot going because the war is still going on and it is a very small but appreciated thing we can do at this time. Going to Israel? Be sure to take a duffle bag at no cost to yourself, just a little bit of time. Pour on the chesed in the coming year. The need has not dissipated. Continue to daven in any which way you can and let us hope that all of our tefillot are answered, no matter what they are. I pray that my article in next year’s Yom Kippur edition of the Link will have no mention of war or hostages!
Nina Glick can be reached at [email protected]
