Nine Months

By Rabbi Ellen S. Wolintz-Fields, WLCJ Executive Director

On Sunday, July 7, 2024, my son remarked to me that it was nine months since the war began. Nine months since the hostages were taken captive. I had tears in my eyes, as my son said this – because I felt so blessed to be able to be by his side. There are dozens of mothers who are waiting for their children to return. I can not fathom what they are going through. As I write this Shabbat Message, there are sixteen women still held captive by Hamas. Are any of them new mothers? Nine months is truly a lifetime – the time it takes for a life to be born. Kfir Bibas, who was taken captive with his family at nine months old, has been in captivity longer than he was out of captivity. How does one’s heart not break? 

Many of us know hostages personally; for many of us, they are names of people, who we feel like we now know. My wish for my November 2023 trip to Israel was to meet a released hostage. My wish came true in February 2024, when I met Aviva Siegel. I told her I wanted to meet her husband Keith Siegel, still being held hostage, when I returned for Passover; and then corrected myself and said that if he was released the next day, I wanted to meet him. Over Passover, on April 27, 2024, a video was released of Keith Siegel, but Keith is still being held hostage, along with 119 others. Let us pray he will be released soon, and I can meet him on my next trip to Israel.

Whenever I look at my husband, or my children, I wonder what it would be like if we had not communicated for nine months. It is truly unfathomable. My heart aches for the families and friends of the hostages. Bring them home now!

https://stories.bringthemhomenow.net/

William Daroff, CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, of which Women’s League for Conservative Judaism is a member, expressed how many of us are feeling: “On October 7th, the heartbeats of Jews around the world were synchronized. We in the American Jewish community continue to stand by you, support you, and want to impress upon you that the people of Israel are not alone. Jews everywhere share in your pain and your resolve. As the challenges of antisemitism have metastasized over these last months, we in America thank you for standing with us as we face the challenges of the normalization of Jew-hatred. Our heartbeats are synchronized, and together, we will prevail and thrive, just as our people have for 3500 years.” (Remarks by William Daroff, when he testified before the Knesset to discuss U.S.-Israel relations.)

How appropriate it is that the 2024-2025 / 5785 Torah Fund Campaign of Women’s League for Conservative Judaism, is Am Yisrael Chai! The People of Israel Live!  Now more than ever, please support Torah Fund, and in gratitude for your support, proudly wear these important words – Am Yisrael Chai! The People of Israel Live! 

https://inspired.jtsa.edu/give/314821

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Ellen S. Wolintz-Fields
WLCJ Executive Director
ewolintz-fields@wlcj.org