HaChatuf Ha'Acharon - The Last Hostage

"The circle has closed..." So began the announcement that the remains of Master Sergeant Ran Gvili had been found and were being brought home for proper Jewish burial. For 843 days, his family waited...Israel waited...the Jewish Nation waited...to close - but never to forget - this horrific chapter of our history.

For me, the most intense waiting had been since arriving in Israel in late October and being greeted by this sign:

"Until the Last Hostage"

It was a promise that as individuals and as a nation, we would not rest until the return of the very last hostage. At that time, there were still eleven of them. Eleven bodies still being held in Gaza. Eleven families still waiting, praying, hoping. By the time we left Israel at the end of November, there were just two.

And then, one. The Last Hostage. HaChatuf Ha'Acharon.

I prayed for the return of Ran Gvili ben Itzik every day, waiting to close the circle and write this post.

Yeshuas HaShem k'Heref Ayin. G-d's salvation can come in the blink of an eye. On the morning of January 26, snowed in and scrolling through stuff on my phone, I thought I had misread the news item. It seemed almost matter-of-fact. But then came the photos and videos to back it up. It was true. After all the false leads, dashed hopes and intense searching, it was true. And that's when the jumbled emotions began.  

How do you breathe a sigh of relief and simultaneously cry for all the pain of the past two-plus years? 

How do you thank G-d for His kindness without also asking "But why?" 

Tough questions. But I got my answers... 

...from the brave soldiers of the IDF who, with G-d's help, completed their mission faithfully.

....from the former hostages who finally removed the yellow ribbon pins with joy (click here). 

...from Ran's family who proclaimed that "our pride is much, much greater than our pain" (click here). 

We'll watch these videos again and again and then we'll move on...

...to a better tomorrow.

...to Remember Jerusalem, the city that unites us always (see Tehillim 122:3), as the burial of Ran Gvili unites us today.

 May his memory be a blessing.