On Monday, April 8, the Westchester Jewish Council hosted a “Westchester Community Gathering in Solidarity With the Hostages and the People of Israel.” Close to 1,000 people attended in person at White Plains’ Cong. Kol Ami and 450 people joined virtually.
Tara Slone-Goldstein, Westchester regional chair-UJA-Federation of NY, welcomed participants marking six months the hostages have been held in captivity. “We are honored to welcome the Hostage Family Forum. It is less than three weeks since I returned from a UJA-Westchester Leadership Solidarity Mission to Israel. The heartbreaking stories we heard and the unbelievable remnants of horror we saw are swirling in my head in one continuous loop. We listened intently, we gave hugs, we received hugs and we shared pain. We observed the Israeli people are deeply in need of healing and support. We visited the Hostage Family Forum, an important partnership where we’ve allocated $600,000 to support their work and create a fund for families. We saw volunteers working around the clock providing holistic support to hostage families. At Hostage Square we saw thousands of people gathering regularly.
“On Oct. 7, the world changed for Jewish people everywhere. UJA is also prioritizing the fight against rising antisemitism, enhanced security and more joyful Jewish programming and education while caring for those in need. Each of us is asking what we can do. Listen to stories from the families, do your best to amplify them with everyone you know, in person and on social media. Continue to call and email members of Congress and the president and say ‘Bring them Home!’ Continue to show your support publicly. Wear your Jewishness with pride and visit Israel. Israelis need our love and we need theirs.”
Rabbi Jason Fenster of Kol Ami expressed, “These have been an impossibly difficult six months. We’ve all had trauma of bodies stolen from their homes. For six months, we have prayed with desperate yearning and broken hearts for the release of hostages. We’ve seen Israel demonized. We’ve watched the world forget about the carnage and horror of Oct. 7. And we’ve watched as the world has forgotten about the people who still sit in darkness, held hostage away from their family, friends and community. We will not forget. We will stand in solidarity, compassion, brokenness, and strength with you, with the people of Israel and Jews across the globe. It’s Rosh Chodesh, the beginning of the month of Nisan. Right now it is dark. And we might feel that darkness. But this month marks this the season of freedom and redemption. We will sit in darkness for now. And soon we will join hands to march together towards light.”
Representatives of the Hostage and Missing Families Forum shared, “At the beginning, we had just one objective: to bring the hostages home as soon as possible. Today we have another objective to address, to make sure they have someone to come back to. The unique thing about this organization is that when it finally closes its doors it means that we succeeded. It means that they’re back. Our operations have changed, but our main needs keep on going. Our donors and supporters are the fuel that helps us keep running.”
Hostage relatives participating included Leat Ruben, cousin of Omer Shem Tov; Osnat Sharabi Matalon and her daughter Shira Ahuva, sister and niece of hostage Eli Sharabi and Yossi Sharabi, HY’D, who was murdered in captivity; Dalit and Hila Shtivi, mother and sister of hostage Idan Shtivi; and Omri and Daniel Lifshitz, son and grandson of hostage Oded Lifshtiz and released hostage Yocheved Lifshitz.
They shared personal stories behind their pictures, how greatly they are missed, what happened to them on Oct. 7 and any information they have gotten since Oct. 7. They described the difficulties and emotions they face daily. Shira Ahuva summarized, “This should not be normal, this should not be our reality, it is so sad that it happened, it happened to us, but it could have happened to anyone. I am standing here only because I have no choice. They need us and we need them. We are going around the world to explain to people why we should get back our loved ones. It is so hard; we are so close to breaking and bursting in tears every second of the day.”
Donna from the Hostage and Missing Families Forum stated, “We need everybody’s support in this room. We continue amplifying their stories. We continue advocating. We can’t stop until every single hostage is back home with their loved ones.”
To learn more, visit www.hostagesforumny.com.
Judy Berger is a Bronx/Westchester/Connecticut community editor at The Jewish Link.
