The Jewish world has been frozen in time since October 7, 2023. We’ve been reliving the trauma and pain inflicted on our people and our homeland that day ever since. This constant sense of being stuck has been amplified by the rapid growth of antisemitism, by the deafening silence of those we thought were our friends, and by the blaming of the victims for all that happened. We’ve been stuck on October 7, 2023 because we couldn’t move forward without ending what happened on that disastrous day. When the war began, there were two goals: ending the reign of terror by Hamas, and bringing home all the hostages, both alive and dead. To leave even a single person in Gaza would be to fail as a nation, a people, and a family.
Over the time that’s elapsed since October 7, 2023, we’ve cried tears of joy when we witnessed hostages being reunited with their loved ones and cried tears of grief when we watched as loved ones received the remains of their loved ones who had been murdered by Hamas. We, in the Diaspora, cannot begin to imagine the pain and hurt that was forced on our brothers and sisters in Israel. Likewise, we cannot fully appreciate the joy they felt every time a hostage came home alive. Finally, we cannot fully understand the feeling of closure felt by families and by the State of Israel each time a casket was brought back from Gaza. Those caskets ended hopes for a miracle and ended the unbearable pain of not fully knowing what happened to their loved ones.
To bring back our loved ones is a sacred Jewish task and value. When we talk about hostages, we talk about the concept of פדיון שבויים/Pidiyon Shevu’im/Returning of Hostages. This value and sacred trust is a core Jewish way of seeing the world. We will not allow our loved ones to be left in dungeons and be deprived of their freedom. We fight for all Jews to live freely and to be surrounded by those they love. This is a sacred bond that ties all Jewish people of the world together. It is also our sacred obligation that no loved ones be left in limbo. We must do all we can to bring all our loved ones home to be buried with honor. This burial allows the living to gain some sense of closure, and to begin the process of grieving.
We’ve now arrived at our symbolic October 8, 2023 and we’re able to move forward in our collective trauma and grief. This week, the IDF found the remains of the final hostage, Ran Gvilli, in Gaza and brought him home to Israel and to his family to allow them to bury and mourn him. Ran was a hero, a member of the police force that ran into the danger zone. After saving the lives of partygoers fleeing the Nova music festival in Re’im, and defending Kibbutz Alumim from Hamas terrorists, he was killed saving countless other lives. May his memory be for a blessing.
This week, we read פרשת בשלח/Parshat Beshalach and learn of the final moments in Egypt and our departure. There is one sentence that jumps out at me every time I read it:
וַיִּקַּ֥ח מֹשֶׁ֛ה אֶת־עַצְמ֥וֹת יוֹסֵ֖ף עִמּ֑וֹ כִּי֩ הַשְׁבֵּ֨עַ הִשְׁבִּ֜יעַ אֶת־בְּנֵ֤י יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר פָּקֹ֨ד יִפְקֹ֤ד אֱלֹהִים֙ אֶתְכֶ֔ם וְהַעֲלִיתֶ֧ם אֶת־עַצְמֹתַ֛י מִזֶּ֖ה אִתְּכֶֽם׃
And Moses took with him the bones of Joseph, who had exacted an oath from the children of Israel, saying, “God will be sure to take notice of you: then you shall carry up my bones from here with you.” (שמות יג:יט)
There are many מדרשים/Midrashim told about this in both the collections of מדרש and the תלמוד/Talmud. The essence of all these explanations is that on the chaotic night we were leaving, משה/Moshe/Moses set out to find the bones/remains of יוסף/Yosef/Joseph. He struggled and finally declared we could not leave before we fulfilled our sacred obligation to יוסף to bring him with us to the promised land. It was at that moment יוסף’s casket exposed itself to משה and he was able to bring him out. The fact that our leader, משה, spent this last night occupied with this sacred work is no accident. We cannot move forward when the past is left unresolved. We cannot leave our people in chains and expect to be fully free. We cannot have our martyrs left in unmarked graves and properly honor our dead. We must make things right. We must bring them home. In fact, it’s safe to say we couldn’t have left Egypt without the bones of יוסף… it was only after we brought him out with us that we were truly able to move forward into the process of becoming a free people and working our way to the Promised Land.
This week, we finally reached October 8. This week we’re started the process of moving forward and beginning to grieve and thus beginning to heal.
