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Dear Friends, Yesterday, I visited Hostage Square in Tel Aviv for the third or fourth time. Earlier that day, the square was filled with people eagerly awaiting the release of additional hostages held by Hamas terrorists abducted during the terror attack and massacre on October 7, 2023. On one side of the square, there’s a large electronic clock that marks the time the hostages have been held in Gaza. When I visited the square in July, this was the clock: |
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Yesterday, it looked like this: |
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That number, and watching it tick ever-higher as I stood there, was emotionally and spiritually crushing. However, a few minutes later, as I walked around Hostage Square, I smiled for the first time in that space. |
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Posters with the names, ages, homes, and pictures of each hostage are posted on countless walls around the square. Among them is Liri Albag. (If you read about Liri, you’ll quickly learn about her remarkable, strong, and beloved nature. However, you won’t learn about the deep connections she has to our community. She spent time at Camp Nah-Jee-Wah and, as a result, is friends with several young people who grew up in our community. Daniel Lifshitz, whose grandfather is still held in Gaza and has become a close friend of Raina’s and mine, is the spokesperson for Liri’s family.) I was filled with tears of joy to see a red heart with the Hebrew word for “I’ve returned” on her poster this time. After 481 days of brutal captivity and a harrowing experience during her release, that heart had been placed there just hours before. |
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Despite her release, calls for the release of the remaining hostages continue to come almost exclusively from the Jewish community. That is, in fact, why I had “asked” Federation to allow me to join this Interfaith Mission. |
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As I mentioned earlier, the silence of our local Christian clergy in the days, weeks, and months following October 7th was excruciatingly painful. I am grateful that many of them stepped forward and spoke out after the hate-filled ugliness at Oheb Shalom last week, but I had not yet come to terms with the all-but complete silence from them after the worst attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust. When I heard that a group of interfaith clergy, including ministers, priests, and Hindu and Mormon communal leaders, was headed to Israel to bear witness, I knew I wanted to be a part of it. |
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It was an honor to travel and learn with them. It was powerful to see Israel and some of its most important Christian sites through their eyes. And it was healing and uplifting to witness their growing understanding of the complexities of the situation Israel faces, internally, externally, and in the media. I was struck by their love for our community, their unwavering support for Israel, even as they are conflicted or outright upset by some current policies, and their increasingly clear comprehension of the current situation. I look forward to sharing some of their reflections in the coming days and weeks. |
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In the meantime, as I return to the US and the end of my sabbatical approaches, I extend to you all a Shabbat Shalom and eagerly anticipate seeing you soon. Rabbi Daniel Cohen |