Dear Friend,

On Friday, Israel celebrates its annual Yom Hamishpahah (National Family Day). This year, the first thing that comes to my mind when thinking about families is the plight of the hostages. For the past 16 months, we have supported the hostages' families and their public efforts to press the government to act for their loved ones' release. Over the past weeks, we've been thrilled to see hostages finally reuniting with their families. As I watched each reunion, my heart overflowed with happiness and gratitude, almost as if I knew them personally, because they all feel like our family now.

But this week was different. On Thursday, we watched with horror as four coffins were returned from Gaza. They contained the remains of Oded Lifschitz and of Kfir and Ariel Bibas, the little red-headed boys taken hostage from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7, along with their mother Shiri and father Yarden. Yarden was released alive a few weeks ago. Shiri's remains were not in the coffin as promised but have since been returned.

Shiri, Ariel and Kfir’s funeral, which took place today, was a moment when all of us came together in mourning and deep pain. Tens of thousands of Israelis stood today alongside the road where the funeral procession passed by. And yet, the Bibas family chose to raise a voice that praises life. Ofri, Yarden' sister said at the funeral: "We lost. We will not have our victory picture. We will fight against our enemies for eternity but we must sanctify life, love of humanity, respect for those who died and never leave anyone behind. Otherwise, we will not be who we are anymore."

Yesterday, the funeral of Oded Lifschitz, a founder of kibbutz Nir Oz and a peace activist, was held. At the funeral, Oded's son Arnon said: "Dad you're home now. For you, ‘Love Thy Neighbor’ was never just a slogan. Your endless dream for a better, more equal world was always there. You never asked for revenge, only healing and bringing light into the world."

Four more coffins are going to be returned tonight, marking the end of the first phase of the hostage deal. It is not clear when the second phase is going to begin. Sixty-three hostages remain in captivity, many of them are believed to be alive. We must do all we can to see every one of them reunited with their families. To bring them back home alive and not in coffins. We will persist in demanding this from our government over and over until this becomes a reality.
 
On Shabbat, when 6 hostages were reunited with their families – Tal, Avera, Omer, Omer, Eliya and Hisham - Adi, Tal Shoham's wife expressed her anticipation of being reunited with her husband in a post quoting a famous poem by Leah Goldberg called "Deep in the Dew," writing: "Now your footsteps draw near." It's a poem that truly captures this moment for many of us yearning to see families united. The special magic of the poem is in how Goldberg plays with the biblical term for footsteps, which is the same word used in modern Hebrew for heartbeat.

A basket full of stars.
The smell of murmuring grass.
Deep in the dew
my heart is beating.
Now your footsteps draw near.
They shook off myriad drops.
Deep in the dew
my heart is beating.

How much we need to hear the footsteps of all the hostages drawing near (in one step altogether!), how we yearn for the footsteps of peace and life that will make our hearts beat normally once again, so that we can enjoy things such as stars and the dew on the grass.

We will continue to work to bring this day. Its footsteps draw near.

Sincerely,

Orly Erez-Likhovski

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