Five hundred days after 251 people were taken hostage from Israel, the Jewish community of Greater Washington gathered in prayer to honor those still held captive in Gaza, uplift their families and demand their immediate and safe return.
Rabbis, community members, former hostages and relatives of hostages shared a common message at a Feb. 18 national prayer, echoing through the sanctuary at Washington Hebrew Congregation: “Bring them home now.”
Former hostages told their stories and relatives of hostages reminisced about their loved ones, testimony that was interspersed with prayer and song. Introduced by Rabbi Sue Shankman of WHC and Rabbi Lauren Holtzblatt of Adas Israel Congregation, speakers recounted their experiences living in Hamas’ tunnels and expressed the urgency of a hostage deal.
“We’ve been praying for 500 days; we’ve been repeating these names for 500 days,” Holtzblatt said. “It’s far too long.”
In his first public appearance in Washington, D.C., Yechiel Leiter, the Israeli ambassador to the United States, referenced the large tablets listing the Ten Commandments behind him on the bimah: “Although it’s not in the Ten Commandments, thou shalt not take hostages; thou shalt not steal people.”
He introduced two freed hostages and “suppliers of resilience” Noa Argamani and Ilana Gritzewsky. Argamani, whose Oct. 7, 2023, kidnapping by Hamas was captured in a viral video, recounted the fear she experienced during her nine months of captivity: “I was scared every second.”
“Every moment feels like the last moment of your life,” she addressed the crowd, emphasizing the importance of the cease-fire deal.
“This deal right now is really important for everybody,” Argamani said. “We must go to the second stage to bring all the hostages back home.”
She and other speakers referenced the “signs of life” coming from the tunnels of Gaza by means of the recently freed hostages.
“How can we continue our life and stop this deal when there’s people waiting for us to open the door?” asked Argamani, whose boyfriend is still held captive in Gaza.
Gritzewsky, who spent 55 days in captivity, also shared her story, including how she was left with a broken jaw and pelvis, burns on her legs and hearing loss in one ear.
“I always feel that I am not truly free,” Gritzewsky told the crowd, recounting her grief that her boyfriend remains in captivity.
She said after her release, Gritzewsky “instantly” became an advocate for her boyfriend’s release, thus she hasn’t had a chance to fully focus on recovery.
“My body may have returned, but the world will not understand the magnitude of this trauma,” Gritzewsky said.
Matan Sivek, the co-founder and director of Hostage and Missing Families Forum D.C., spoke about the positive impact of American activism on the hostages, conveying the words of Ohad Ben Ami, the 56-year-old who was released from captivity on Feb. 8.
“He’s sending us a very powerful message,” Sivek said. “‘You can lose yourself very easily in captivity. What keeps you above the ground is when you see that your people are fighting for you. This is what sustained us in captivity.’”
Adding that the 500 days is symbolic, Sivek encouraged attendees to “stand up, go outside [and] raise signs” in public support of the hostages.
WHC Cantor Susan Bortnick led the crowd in singing “Acheinu,” Hebrew for “our brothers,” then attendees heard from Gal Gilboa-Dalal and Ilay David, whose brothers are currently held captive in Gaza.
Gilboa-Dalal had attended the Nova Music Festival with his brother, Guy, on Oct. 7, 2023, before the then 22-year-old was kidnapped by Hamas.
“Since then, my family has been tormented,” Gal Gilboa-Dalal told the crowd.
A group of David’s family members and friends gather weekly in Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square to play music and dance in tribute to Evyatar David, a 24-year-old musician in captivity.
Wanting to bring a taste of “Evyatar’s Jam Sessions” from Israel to D.C., vocalist Tova Rubin sang Queen’s “I Want to Break Free,” backed by Bortnick. The audience sang the Israeli national anthem “Hatikvah” to close out the program.
Jim and Martha Feldman, who attended the event from Gaithersburg, said they believe it’s important to hold events such as the national prayer to show solidarity with the hostages despite not being acquainted with them personally.
“The world needs to see that we Jews stay together and that we support people we don’t know,” Jim Feldman told Washington Jewish Week. “People need to know that there are people like us who care. We can’t just go silently into the night.”
Alan Ronkin, the regional director of the American Jewish Committee, attended the prayer event to support the hostages and their families.
“Five hundred days is an unbearable number, just shakes you to your core,” Ronkin said. “It’s wonderful to see [hostages] coming home, but you wonder about the ones left behind.”
