A Hopeful Moment: The Deal to End the War

 וַיַּעֲשׂוּ כׇל־הַקָּהָל הַשָּׁבִים מִן־הַשְּׁבִי  סֻכּוֹת וַיֵּשְׁבוּ בַסֻּכּוֹת כִּי לֹא־עָשׂוּ מִימֵי יֵשׁוּעַ בִּן־נוּן כֵּן בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל עַד הַיּוֹם הַהוּא וַתְּהִי שִׂמְחָה גְּדוֹלָה מְאֹד׃
נחמיה ח:זה~

“The whole community that returned from the captivity made booths and dwelt in the booths—the Israelites had not done so from the days of Joshua son of Nun to that day—and there was very great rejoicing.” (Nechemia 8:17)

Yesterday, October 9, 2023 – 17 Tishrei 5786, was a historic and momentous day. It was a day that Jews and Israelis will remember when we could let out a collective sigh of relief that a deal was signed and approved: the war will soon come to an end, and ALL of the hostages will be released and brought home.

It is a relief for those who are fighting and risking their lives. It is a relief for Palestinians who are displaced and living in unthinkable conditions. And, above all, it is a relief for the 20 remaining living hostages who have survived against all odds and whose family members have been fighting and fighting in every way they can for the return of their loved ones.

The deal comes during the holiday of Sukkot, when we are commanded to “rejoice in our holiday and be happy,” and at a moment between the Gregorian date of October 7^th and the Hebrew date of 22 Tishrei/Simchat Torah.

This is a profoundly emotional moment. Our thoughts turn to the parents and family members. To mention a few, we think of: Einav Zanguaker, the mother of Matan, who never gave up even though she faced ridicule and scorn from some in Israeli society; Yehuda Cohen, whose son Nimrod is being held; of Idit Ohel, whose son Alon is reported to have lost sight in one eye, and hasn’t been heard from; of Lishay Miran, who takes her 5 and 3-year-old children each night to look at the stars and say “lilah tov” to their father Omri, who was taken from their home in Kibbutz Nachal Oz.

We eagerly anticipate their return and act now with cautious optimism and great trepidation, hoping the agreed-upon deal does not get derailed. The 18th-century philosopher Baruch Spinoza said, “There is no hope without fear, and no fear without hope. Hope that is not intertwined with fear does not exist, and no such thing as fear that is not connected to hope.”

Today, I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation to President Trump and his team, including Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner, and others, for going to great lengths to make this deal happen. The diplomatic maneuvering and calibration of many moving pieces were masterful. Now we pray that the different phases of the deal will be implemented and adhered to.

The deal brought together the Americans, Qataris, Egyptians, Turks, and Israelis to agree on the terms and put the onus and pressure on Hamas to accept it. In a short time, President Trump overturned the previous Western sentiment, which largely saw Israel as the culprit and the sole bearer of responsibility for ending the war. It also managed to unite the Arab world and engage them in sharing accountability for the future of Gaza, both in terms of governance and the long and arduous task of rebuilding, providing stability, healing, and much-needed aid to Gaza’s population. Trump is set to speak in the Knesset on Sunday, and if he is nominated and awarded a peace prize for this effort, then he will have earned it.

The deal is very good for Israel as it allows Israeli society to move beyond October 7 and to feel a sense of hope again. It removes the messianic hopes of some to resettle Gaza with Jewish settlements as a non-starter and an unrealistic pipe dream. Hopefully, it allows others to return to their homes in safety and security in destroyed kibbutzim and towns in the Gaza area.

And, this deal is bad for Hamas, which will be forced to confront the Palestinian masses in Gaza who see them as responsible for the utter catastrophe that is their current state. While Hamas will still exist, the deal calls for its disarmament and the elimination of its governing role.

This deal has largely not received criticism, although many remind us that a proposal with similar stipulations could have been achieved over a year ago, highlighting the potential to save numerous lives. Ironically, very little has been heard from the masses of Progressive European and North American protesters and activists who spent much of the last two years calling for a cease-fire and an end to the war. Some have even refused to endorse the deal. That alone raises many questions about their motivation and their agenda.

For the rest of us, we will hopefully make an emotional transition in the next few days. So many of us have dedicated so much of our lives to the critical cause and great Mitzvah of redeeming the captives. We have left chairs empty at our Shabbat and holiday tables. We have hung posters with the pictures of hostages, offered prayers and readings, worn yellow ribbons daily, lit extra Shabbat candles, brought speakers, and heard their stories. We have written letters and attended protests – all calling for their return.

By next week, as we complete our cycle of Torah reading and mark the two-year anniversary of that dark and tragic Simchat Torah, and finally, finally (we hope as of this writing), our hostages will be out of bondage, we can find our own rituals in taking down the symbols of #bringthemhome.

This will be a moment of meaning for us as we shelve our “bring them home” t-shirts and stow our yellow ribbon pins in our desk drawers.

We could institute a ritual of bringing our yellow ribbon pins and dog tags to the Ark in our sanctuaries and say something along the lines of:

“For nearly two years, we have carried these ribbons — signs of pain, hope, and solidarity.
They reminded us that even when our hearts were broken, we refused to look away.
Today, we mark a change — not an end, but a transformation.
We gather to honor the whole and the broken —  לוחות ושברי לוחות מונחים בארון אחד —
The Tablets and the fragments of the Tablets are kept together in the same ark.
(pause)
We do not discard what was broken. We make space for it,
because it, too, holds holiness.”

For us, this is an opportunity to open a new chapter, to make meaning of our symbols and renew our commitments to Israel, Zionism, and Jewish peoplehood. And it is our opportunity to join with our Israeli Reform Movement and other partners on the ground in Israel to preserve democracy and join the myriad of Israelis who make up the core of a vibrant and resilient civil society.

For the hostages, their long path of healing will begin as they reunite with their families and friends and begin a process of healing and integration into life. We will soon hear their harrowing testimonies and accounts of what they experienced and how they managed to maintain hope and survive in unthinkable conditions.

The prophet Habbakuk reminds us: “ עוד חזון למועד” (Od ḥazon la-mo’ed — The vision is still for an appointed time.) (Habakkuk 2:3) He advises us not to get ahead of ourselves, and that thinking about the day after is still premature.

At the October 7 memorial ceremony, run by a newly created organization called “Kumu” (“Rise Up”), founder Yonatan Shamriz, the brother of hostage Alon Shamriz, who the IDF mistakenly killed after escaping his Gazan captors, shared the following:

“October 7 is not only a day of remembrance for those we lost, but also a day of remembrance for negligence, for failed leadership, and for the abandonment of responsibility. On that day, a new commitment was born: To lead the State of Israel to a better reality — a far better one.”

From inside his safe room on October 7, Shamriz made himself a promise: “We will rise.”

“Our generation — which inherited a country bleeding, isolated, fractured, and in pain — will be the one to fix it. It will be the best version of Israel, one that sanctifies the lives of its residents, that is built on truth, accountability, and mutual responsibility… We will bring back life. We will bring back hope. We have risen. The people of Israel have risen.”

As we enter Shabbat and Simchat Torah, let us hope and pray that this deal sticks and that we can all breathe a sigh of relief.  And now we can bring back hope and rise together.

Shabbat Shalom and Moadim L’Tikvah!