CHANUKAH 5785, SECTION D, PAGE 24
Could our deepest wishes, our painful prayers, come true?
Israel’s Defense Minister, Israel Katz, said this week, “We are the closest to a hostage deal since the last one.” That was over one year ago, in late November, 2023.
The hostages — 100 individuals — are still in Gaza, either surviving in the face of all expectations; or, tragically, dead, their families waiting to lay the remains of their loved ones to rest.
May we dare hope?
There have been many times we’ve been told a deal is near. There have been many times the US under President Biden has proposed deals that Israel accepted, but Hamas did not.
Throughout all that time, day in, day out, the release of the hostages has remained at the forefront of so many Jewish people’s prayers.
In Denver, Boulder, Salt Lake City, Park City and Albuquerque, people have gathered every Sunday, without fail, to walk or run for the hostages, to ensure their plight remains in the public sphere.
These are just a few of the ways that Israeli and Diaspora Jewry have stayed the course, never wavering, in their advocacy and deep-felt pain for the hostages and their families.
It is no coincidence that quite a number of the entries in this year’s IJNDoris Sky Chanukah Coloring Contest contest reflected the hostages and their captivity —an open wound for world Jewry.
Chanukah is the time of miracles. The festival of lights celebrates a moment in Jewish history when Jews reclaimed their land and religion; when Jewish people stood up to their occupiers, their colonizers; when Jews said “Enough!” after their Holy Temple was defiled.
In 5785, much like the Maccabees of yore, we are living in an age of contradictions — an age of destruction and survival, an age of defilement and redemption, an age of miracles and loss.
More than anything, what we have in common today with our Maccabean ancestry is courage and pride, whether found in the hostage families, in the IDF soldiers, in the work we do here locally to support our Israeli brothers and sisters, and our brothers and sisters across the globe.
Much like the Maccabees, we have reclaimed our Jewish identity in a powerful and proud way.
Now we wait — for the next miracle, the one following Israel’s military wonders, the miracle we have all been praying for.
Dare we hope?
Where there is hope there is life — making it incumbent upon us, yes, to hope! We must hope for those who no longer can hope. We must hope for the Chanukah miracle.
Bring them home now.
© IJN 2024
