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Opinion / Celebrating the Hostages’ Return Among Strangers, I Understood the Strength of the Jewish People

Hundreds of strangers—secular and religious, young and old—gathered to send a message to our returning girls of our nation’s strength and unity

נעמה לוי לאחר שחרורה מהשבי, במסוק בדרך לבית החולים בילינסון , עם שלט עליו כתבה "סוף סוף בבית. תודה לעם ישראל" (צילום: דובר צה"ל)
Naama Levy reunited with her parents in the helicopter on the way to the hospital. (Photo: IDF)
By Yahel Farag

By now, almost everyone has seen it: the Hamas-produced propaganda video of the four young Israeli women being released from captivity, finally, after 477 days. Smiling and waving, presumably drugged, in uniforms provided to them by Hamas, they stand underneath a massive banner with a chilling message written in Hebrew: “Zionism will not prevail.”

Liri Albag, Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy at the handover ceremony. (Screenshot)
Liri Albag, Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy at the handover ceremony. (Screenshot)

The Glisman family of Petah Tikva, central Israel, want to communicate a different message to the brave returned hostages. So on their 20th-floor balcony, overlooking Beilinson Hospital where the hostages were set to be taken, the family unfurls an Israeli flag and two large pieces of cloth: one bearing the names of the returned hostages—Karina, Daniella, Liri, and Naama—and one with a simple but powerful line, one that’s accompanied the Jewish people for more than 2,000 years: Am Yisrael chai, the people of Israel live.

Hundreds of Israelis gather around the hospital’s helicopter pad starting early Saturday morning—most from the Petah Tikva, but not only. Merav Maman, former teacher of the released hostage Karina Ariev, arrives with her family from Ma’ale Adumim to hold a sign reading “Dear Karina, welcome back.”

Merav Maman and her family hold a sign to welcome Karina Ariev home. (Photo: Yahel Farag)
Merav Maman and her family hold a sign to welcome Karina Ariev home. (Photo: Yahel Farag)

“We sat on the couch, and after tears of joy, we set out and arrived,” Maman tells Davar.

The atmosphere on the Glisman family balcony is uplifting. They play songs celebrating the resilience of the Jewish people, banging on pots and pans to increase the sense of excitement. “We’re waiting for everyone, and we won’t forget anyone—the ones who died, the ones who experienced that Shabbat, the wounded and disabled, the bereaved parents,” a member of the family tells Davar.

More and more people show up to the area, waving flags, wearing shirts with the faces of the released soldiers, on bikes, on foot, in cars, coming to be part of history being written right now. Secular Israelis provide updates to the religious who don’t use electricity on Shabbat.

At long last, the images of Liri Elbag and her parents from the helicopter appear on the screen. “They’re on their way!” the Glisman family shouts, running from the TV room to the balcony to witness the miracle. The excitement is overwhelming, but luckily there are pots to bang, songs to sing, words to shout—even words in an ancient language, older than Hebrew, an ancient language of joy.

The Glisman family bang pots and pans as the hostages approach. (Photo: Yahel Farag)
The Glisman family bang pots and pans as the hostages approach. (Photo: Yahel Farag)

The large helicopter carrying the kidnapped approaches from the south, making a small turn in a direct line in front of the balcony, and the Glisman family waves the Israeli flag to show that they are home.

“The mitzvah of releasing the hostages—it’s an uplifting feeling; may all the hostages return soon, in our time,” Shula Shemesh, who, like the state, is 76 years old, says.

Her husband, Yossi, carries scars from the Yom Kippur War. For him, seeing the hostages return is a full circle. “A big embrace to the families, those who are alive and those who are not,” he says.

Liri Albag with her family inside the helicopter bringing her to the hospital. (Photo: IDF)
Liri Albag with her family inside the helicopter bringing her to the hospital. (Photo: IDF)

The Hamas producers of the ceremony in the heart of Gaza didn’t see the sign reading “The people of Israel live,” written in ancient Hebrew letters, hanging from the 20th-floor balcony in the heart of the blooming city of Petah Tikva. But the sign they made themselves, “Zionism will not prevail,” was written in Hebrew, in ancient writing that was renewed after centuries.

Hamas wanted to send a message to the Israelis, but they didn’t realize that it’s not the message, it's the medium. The medium is the ancient language of the Jewish people, a people who survived Pharaoh and who will survive them too.

“The people of Israel live on,” Shemesh says proudly, speaking for the entire nation. “And we will continue to live on, and our enemies will not destroy us, even though they try.”

This article was translated from Hebrew by Leah Schwartz. 

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