The latest round of released hostages from Gaza arrived in Israel Sunday, Jan. 19. In Tel Aviv, there was jubilation as Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari returned to Israel.
At a Tanach conference in Alon Shvut, Israel, Rabbi Barry Gelman of The Denver Kehillah took note of the moment, and the mood.
“There is no euphoria here,” Rabbi Gelman told his shul via email.
“It is more of a pensive mood. There is a pervasive sense of doubt as to whether or not the ‘deal’ will ultimately be good for Israel. No one likes the idea that monstrous terrorists will be released.
“The deal itself is agonizing — 33 hostages, some deceased, over 42 days. It is a torturously slow process.
“We davened in a shul in [Jerusalem] on Shabbat and there was a siren warning of an incoming missile during Mussaf. Waiting in the shelter for the ‘all clear,’ I could not help but notice a sense of calm and even humor. The people here continue to exhibit incredible resilience, pride and defiance.
“So, no euphoria, some anxiety but a ton of belief in Zionism, great inner strength and pride.”
In Denver, realtor and philanthropist Michael Marcus monitored the return of the hostages from Gaza, with mixed emotions.
“I think it’s extremely important to get every one of the hostages back,” Marcus told the IJN, “but paying such a high price, including a ceasefire, I think just encourages more hostage taking.”
Marcus, a long time supporter of the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies in southern Israel, reflected on the question of a more equitable exchange — if Hamas would even consider it.
“That’s a good question whether they would think of it,” Marcus said.
“Obviously we were willing to accept it or Israel was willing to accept it, but even if it was three for three, the issue of ‘does that just encourage their taking future hostages whose names we don’t know for the ones you do know’ is something to think about.
“If I was a parent, a sibling, a spouse or a friend of any of the current hostages, I’d probably be saying no price is too high.
“I was reading a couple of months ago about a young man who had been killed in the Israeli forces,” said Marcus. “There was his final letter at home that included saying, ‘If I’m captured, please don’t allow a hostage exchange at any time in return for me, because I have to think of the greater good and not my individual welfare.’
“As it turned out, he wasn’t captured, but he was killed.”
That soldier was Ben Zussman, grandson of part-time Denverite Aver Zussman.
“It’s a very, very thorny issue.”
Meanwhile, back in Israel, Rabbi Gelman shared with The Denver Kahillah the atmosphere in Israel the day after the hostage return.
“It is a strange day today,” Gelman said. “The Jewish people woke up to a hybrid world of joy and distress.
“We are carrying two opposing feelings. Everyone is rejoicing with and for Emily, Romi and Doron and watching how they have embraced their families after so long.
“At the same time, there is anguish that murderers are being released from jail, there is distress over the hostages left behind and, of course, those who died on Oct. 7 and the soldiers who have died since Oct. 7.
“Israel today is a reflection of what we read in Kohelet — ‘A time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance.’ Not that there are different times to feel these feelings, but that they exist at the same time.
“This morning we are mourning even as we dance.”
