Hostages, Martin Luther King Day, Inauguration Day 2025 thoughts (Mon Jan 20, 2025)
The note I sent to the United Synagogue of Hoboken community on Friday (also pasted below) focused on the mixed emotions of this week. If anything, the blend of contradictory emotions has become even more intense since I wrote the words below on Friday. Seeing freed hostages Emily Damari, Romi Gonen, and Doron Steinbrecher reunited with their families brings remarkable joy, even as it is horrifying to think of what they have endured, and the fate of those who are yet to be freed. That the hostages’ freedom could be assured only by trading them for convicted terrorists serving life sentences is devastating and dangerous. And yet the deal has broad support in Israel, with many people holding that it would be even more devastating and dangerous if the hostages were not released. Our prayers are with the hostages who have been freed, those who remain in captivity, and their families and communities.
Today (Monday, January 20) is Martin Luther King Day, when we honor the achievements of a remarkable leader and his associates who helped the United States to become more just and to begin to correct a terrible stain on the moral record of this country. Martin Luther King’s vision and courage continue to inspire us, even as we realize there is more work to be done to help this country to fulfill its calling to justice, liberty and equality. And today is also the inauguration of a new president and administration, making this a moment of uncertainty -- for some, a time of celebration, and for others, a time of trepidation.
The Torah portion that we and other Jewish communities around the world read yesterday, from the beginning of the book of Exodus, makes reference to מלך חדש על מצרים אשר לא ידע את יוסף, “A new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph.” That new king created a tyrannical society in part because he refused to be in continuity with the values of his predecessors including Joseph, an immigrant from a minority group who had brought great blessing to Egypt and its people.
In recent decades, life in the United States has gradually become significantly more equal and fair for people of all races, all religions, all national origins, and for all people regardless of gender and sexual orientation and ability or disability -- and Martin Luther King Day is emblematic of these gradual processes. My fervent prayer today is that the new president and administration will not be like the new king who did not know Joseph. I pray that this new president will not forget his predecessors who helped to steer this country towards greater freedom and justice and equality. I pray that this new administration will not turn back the clock on freedoms for its people who are diverse in the widest variety of ways. I pray that he and his advisors will choose to be in continuity with the historical lessons and values of this country that have helped it to move forward.
In the words of the Prayer for Our Country in our synagogue’s prayerbook:
From Friday January 18, 2025:
Mixed emotions
So many Jewish rituals highlight that the moments of our lives are rarely entirely bitter or entirely sweet. We break a glass at the conclusion of a Jewish wedding. Festive Jewish holidays include the recitation of the Yizkor prayers in memory of beloved family members and friends who have died. It’s not unusual for heartwarming and even funny stories to be shared in a shiva house. The Passover Seder’s ritual foods combine the bitter Maror and the sweet Haroset in the same bite.
This week’s announcement of a cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas and a hostage deal is a time of mixed emotions for many of us. The prospect of the return of hostages after an unbearable 468 days of captivity that has included all kinds of deprivation and abuse is heartening -- even as many of the hostages have been killed in captivity and it is their remains that will be returned. The prospect of the conclusion of hostilities in one of Israel’s longest wars would bring much-needed relief to Israeli society, to soldiers who have been overworked, and to their families, would hopefully bring an opportunity to the people of Gaza to rebuild their lives and hopefully to reject Hamas’s murderous path.
And at the same time, there is much that is so painful about this moment. Over 1000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails -- many of whom are serving life sentences for murder -- are to be released in this first phase in exchange for 33 Israeli hostages (not all of whom are alive). This lopsided deal reminds many of us of the prisoner exchange in 2011 when over 1000 Palestinian prisoners were exchanged for one kidnapped Israeli soldier held hostage in Gaza; those freed prisoners included the Hamas leader who went on to mastermind the October 7 atrocities. To put it mildly, trading multiple convicted criminals for each randomly kidnapped individual does not feel fair or just or safe, and the fact that Hamas is not actually reporting which hostages are alive or dead until the moment of release highlights the emotional turmoil for Israelis - exactly Hamas’s objective. The horrifying fact that this deal actually leaves Hamas in power in Gaza gives Hamas an opportunity to declare victory as its supporters around the world (including in New York City) continue to applaud the actions of October 7. And the hostages, when they are released, will need tremendous healing of body and spirit to overcome their traumas. Their families will be so grateful to welcome them home, but emotions will be complex.
And all these problems notwithstanding, the deal has broad support in Israel, with much gratitude being expressed to the outgoing and incoming American administrations for their roles in making it happen. (I suggest these three podcast episodes -- from the podcasts Call Me Back (the whole thing), The Promised Podcast (starting about 30 minutes in); and What Matters Now (the whole thing) -- for discussion of reactions to the deal across the Israeli political spectrum, as well as this piece by my colleague Rabbi Josh Weinberg, among many other helpful reflections. See also these reflections from the Goldberg-Polin family.)
We have added a prayer for the welfare of hostages to our prayers every day to our synagogue services for the last 465 days at least, and we will continue to add it every day until every hostage is released. May the bittersweetness of this moment eventually give way to the full sweetness of freedom, security, comfort and peace.
Shalom,
Rabbi Rob Scheinberg
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