As Chanukah and Christmas approach, each a festival of light, and coinciding on 25 December in 2024, we light candles for the hostages, and pray for their release.
After such a dark year, it can be tempting to give up hope. Yet, we don’t have that luxury. And there are too many brave people who refuse to give in to despair and instead choose to bear light, be light, spread light.
One bright beacon is an Israeli organisation called Hand In Hand, which is committed to peacebuilding in the form of a network of bilingual, integrated schools and communities for Arabs and Jews in Israel.
Hand In Hand teachers, students, and families have been profoundly impacted by the events of October 7, the war and the hostage situation, in deeply personal ways. In a recent newsletter, Hand In Hand shared this story:
“Just days after the attack, Rebecca [a Hand In Hand parent] and her family received devastating news: their beloved cousin Hersh Goldberg-Polin z”l was abducted to Gaza. Over the next year Hersh’s family fought tooth and nail for his release, up until receiving news of Hersh’s execution in August 2024. ‘I found myself swinging between despair and determination,’ shares Rebecca. ‘But through it all, Hand in Hand has been a point of light. I remember my daughter’s school counselor, an Arab woman named Angham, reached out to tell me she had met with my daughter Dariel that day. This was just a few days after the war started, and after Hersh had been taken hostage. “My heart is with you,” she wrote. And that she was here, and with us, for whatever we needed. That moment of sheer empathy has carried me through this whole time. It reassured me that all this terrible stuff happening was not going to shatter this beautiful community we’re a part of.’”
Inspired by the vision, hope and hearts of people like Rebecca and Angham, and groups like Hand In Hand, we continue to pray for each and every hostage still held captive in Gaza.