Terrorists released those who were in better physical condition first so that the world could once again turn its back on the Jewish state.
Rav Hayim Leiter
(JNS)
Or ben Sima Geula. I’ve said that name every time I prayed, three times a day, for the last six months. At some point during Or Levy’s 491-day captivity, my son’s school—in an attempt to personalize the names of the unfathomable 250 hostages—gave each child a person to pray for. Our youngest returned from school with a passport-sized image of Or that has lived in our home since.
“Aba, will you pray for him?” my son asked me. Of course, I agreed. In the latest hostage-prisoner exchange, Or and two others came home—well, what’s left of them.
Seeing the three hostages returned home gaunt, almost unable to walk from the torture they have endured for well over a year, the images of liberated concentration and displaced persons camps from World War II immediately come to mind. As has been done with each hostage release as part of this current three-phase deal, Or Levy, Ohad Ben Ami and Eli Sharabi were paraded on stage surrounded by gun-toting Hamasniks just before their handover. Or was dressed in green fatigues to promote the illusion that the innocents were soldiers captured as in war operations. This charade should have had the three donning worn-out striped prison garb, for that’s how the Jewish community saw them.
Everyone who laid eyes on the three men thought the same thing: “Holocaust survivors.” That’s exactly what Hamas intended from the outset of this atrocity. Beyond the sheer number of victims murdered on Oct. 7, 2023, the description of their deaths reopened age-old wounds in the Jewish psyche. From families burned alive, to women raped and mutilated in unthinkable ways, these accounts were intended to break the Jewish will.
But the images of the hostages returning were only the beginning of the story. While Eli Sharabi was on stage, the fanatics who took him captive asked what he was looking forward to upon his release. “I’m looking forward to seeing my wife and daughters,” he replied, having no clue that they, along with his older brother, had been murdered by the same monsters, silently looking through their green and black masks. Or was also unaware of his wife’s murder on that Black Shabbat. When he was finally reunited with his 3-year-old son, Almog, the boy said: “Dad, it took you a long time to come back.” and “Mommy Einav is dead; she won’t come back.”
CNN has come under fire for comparing the plight of the hostages to Palestinian prisoners who were released as part of the agreement. The 183 prisoners, according to the network, were visibly emaciated, in poor health and showed signs of physical abuse and starvation. There was no evidence for any of this. The reason the cable-news network could get away with that is because, unlike Hamas, Israel does not parade these individuals in front of a violent, fomenting mob who wish—and sometimes attempt—to tear them apart. The only celebrations that occur for Israel’s enemies are the throngs that elevate their status upon their return to the Arab world.
The difference between the two captivities is encapsulated in an occurrence from the previous exchange. As Israel was releasing that batch of Palestinian prisoners, one needed to be swapped out to reach the preordained 186. Was the prisoner sick? Unable to walk? The complete opposite. On the eve of his release, this inmate refused to board the bus to return to Gaza. He preferred Israeli imprisonment to Hamas rule.
There is no doubt that Hamas delayed the release of Or, Ohad and Eli for as long as possible. This was not only because they’d leave any Jew languishing in a dungeon for all of eternity. The timing of their release was delayed so that the world wouldn’t be watching. These three were intended for Jewish eyes only. Hamas released those who were in better physical condition first so that the world could once again turn its back on the Jewish state. Only after these swaps had become commonplace and the world was no longer tuning in could the true grotesque underbelly of this animalistic terror group be shown.
The morning after Or was released, I wondered what I should pray for. Should I remove him from my list for healing? In the end, I did not because he, like all the other returned hostages, will be in the hospital for at least a week. Just like those who arrived at the DP camps couldn’t eat to their heart’s content, lest their stomachs explode, these three skeletons must be slowly nursed back to health.
And we said, “never again.”
Just as I began my silent Amidah, an Israeli Air Force jet came screaming overhead. When I reached the words, “Blessed are you God, the shield of Avraham,” I realized what I had to pray for. Our enemies will stop at nothing to viciously murder all of us. Our prayer for “never again” is that no matter who rises up to annihilate our people, we will always defend ourselves and never again be the sheep to the slaughter.
Even though we shouldn’t want vengeance for what has already been done and what continues to be done to our brothers and sisters, we wouldn’t be at fault for taking it out on each and every person who both perpetrated and enabled these crimes against humanity. Call me old-fashioned, but I believe the world must be a moral place.
Image: Hamas terrorist in the Al-Qassam Brigades hand over three male Israeli hostages to the Red Cross, as part of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, in Deir al Balah, on Feb. 8, 2025. Photo by Ali Hassan/Flash90.
