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Israel knows, as it has for decades, that we are dealing with a group of people who glorify death and destruction, who turn light into darkness.
By JPOST EDITORIAL JANUARY 21, 2025 06:00
Israelis watch the release of three hostages from Hamas captivity as part of a deal between Israel and Hamas, at hostage square in Tel Aviv, January 19, 2025.
(photo credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)
When Jews all around the world, of all colors and creeds, raise their glasses in a toast, we famously say “LeChaim” – to life.
When we wish someone a happy birthday in Hebrew, we say “Ad meah v’esrim” – (may you live) until 120 (years old).
If someone has recovered from a serious illness or completed a dangerous journey, Jews have a special blessing known as birkat hagomel – “blessing of the Benefactor.”
The Talmud even states, “Whoever saves a single life, it is as if he has saved the entire world.”
As a people, we look for the good in things, the positives. We are grateful to have survived an ordeal and can raise a glass and cheer to life. Jewish humor, from the shtetl to the stage, has long reflected this.
Israel and the Jewish nation saw such signs on Sunday with the public response to the freeing of the first three hostages under the Israel-Hamas hostage deal: Emily Damari, Romi Gonen, and Doron Steinbrecher.
Welcome home Romi, Emily and Doron!
The thousands of Israelis who gathered in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square on Sunday night burst into raucous cheers, and tears of joy were shed when the three women were seen leaving Hamas captivity and handed over to the Red Cross.
“Tonight, I’m glad to see people smiling on the streets for the right reasons,” one witness told The Jerusalem Post. “So many days, we held our breath because so many things could go wrong.”
Observers have described how there was a feeling of togetherness in the crowd as only one thing mattered in that instance: to bring our citizens home from their ordeal.
Israel has fought hard since October 7. We have lost many sons and daughters in the service of their country. We have continuously put lives at risk to bring back the hostages – alive if possible, but dead if necessary – to return them home.
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The surprise announcement Sunday morning that Israel had also managed to retrieve the body of St.-Sgt. Oron Shaul, after ten years in Gaza, shows the meaning we attach to this. The retrieval of Shaul’s body was not directly connected with the ceasefire agreement, but the message that Israel spares no effort to retrieve its citizens from captivity binds us all.
The attitude of Israel's enemies
Compare that with the attitude of Israel’s enemies: Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and the ayatollahs of Iran.
For an Islamist terrorist, martyrdom is the highest form of service one can give, particularly those who die in jihad.
Special rewards supposedly await those in paradise who are martyrs. Hamas supporters and their ilk glorify those who die in acts of violence against perceived enemies of Islam, portraying them as defenders of the faith and liberators of Muslim lands.
In November 2023, surrounding talks over a first ceasefire and hostage deal, Hamas’s then-leader Ismail Haniyeh stated, “We were able, with great pride, to confront the occupation, break its will, and thwart its plans... Martyrs are the price of freedom, liberation, and independence.”
Our soldiers know many hardships, especially in the field of war. Our army consists of strong, capable young and not-so-young men and women willing to defend their homeland and protect their people. Sometimes terrible things happen, and soldiers do die, but as a nation, we do not glorify their deaths as some sort of spiritual battle they have overcome.
How many interviews have been seen over the years of families smiling despite just losing a loved one who attempted to commit a terror attack against Israel? How many mothers profess their sons as martyrs rather than mourn losing a beloved son?
Israel knows, as it has for decades, that we are dealing with a group of people who glorify death and destruction, who turn light into darkness, and who revel in the wretchedness and gloom that comes with war and terror.
The first three hostages returning home is a start. But we know there are nearly a hundred more still to be brought back. We must stay positive despite the likely efforts of Hamas to sabotage the deal in some way. We must believe we can bring all of our citizens home. Then, for those alive and those we have lost, we will be able to raise a glass “to life.”
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