Breathe. Don’t forget to breathe. That is the admonition on Israeli lips as they navigate the possibility that more hostages will come home. Late Friday night, the Israeli government agreed to a deal that should include the release of 33 of the 98 remaining hostages over the next six weeks as phase 1 of a deal that might bring all of them home – some alive, many murdered. 

In November 2023, I traveled to Israel on a Reform Movement solidarity mission. We were blessed to be there during that first week of hostage returns and rode Israel’s emotional rollercoaster each day as lists of names were released and then changed, releases happened or didn’t. Our joy was tempered by the slow drip of information about the torture and mistreatment, and our hearts broke for all of the hostages left behind in Gaza as the releases suddenly ended. 

We at Temple Shaaray Tefila have never forgotten the hostages. Their posters and their souls have seats in our sanctuary every day, and we pray for them every Shabbat. Some of us wear dog-tags and yellow ribbons, others post on social media, write to political representatives, or attend vigils and marches. All of us have the hostages imprinted on our hearts. 

As the hostage releases occur, watch for the family of Liri Albag because she has a special tie to us. One of the woman soldiers captured at age 18, Liri’s family prays that they will hold her in their loving arms before her 20th birthday on February 4th. Her “proof of life” video released by Hamas in January made her mother faint in despair over the hollow look in her daughter’s eyes. Liri’s eyes are well known to me. She has been a part of my family since October 2023, when I received her poster at a protest rally in front of the U.N. and set her up on a chair in our dining room. 

In November 2024, I was back in Israel, at meetings in the Knesset. The families of the hostages were there that day, advocating for their loved ones. I spent some time with Liri’s mother, Shira. Through our shared tears and hugs, I told her that her daughter has a seat at our table every single day until she can once again sit at home at her mother’s table. That her advocacy keeps Liri’s name alive on our lips and in our prayers all the way from Israel to New York and back again. That Temple Shaaray Tefila family never forgets her family and her daughter Liri. 

At this time of intermingled trauma and hope, fear and prayer, know that our congregation’s actions and prayers has been heard by the people who need them most – the hostage families. Liri’s mother has felt your hugs and your love, and that helps Liri’s family have the strength that they need to survive, to welcome Liri home, and to walk the long road of recovery.

Shoshana Dweck

co-chair, ARZENU

Executive Committee/Board, Women of Reform Judaism