A Nation Turns Its Lonely Eyes to You: The Return of Ran Gvili

The ordeal of the last hostage seized by Hamas and taken to Gaza more than 843 days ago came to an end this week with the return of the body of Ran Gvili and with his arrival at his final resting place today. It has not gone unnoticed that it coincides with this week’s Torah portion which tells us that “Moses took with him the bones of Joseph, (from Egypt) who had exacted an oath from the children of Israel, saying, “God will be sure to take notice of you: then you shall carry up my bones from here with you.”

The reception in Israel was one of mixed emotions—pleased that he was finally brought home to receive a proper burial, intertwined with sorrow and grief that it was his body, and not the living man that was returned, coupled with a sigh of relief that for the first time since 2014, there are no Israelis being held in Gaza by Hamas.

The roads carrying the 23-year old’s body to the cemetery where he was to be buried were lined with thousands of people who never met him. The nation paused to witness the funeral which was packed with hundreds of ordinary Israelis and the nation’s leaders,

Every Israeli knows his name. Everyone knows his story. Everyone felt a profound sense of relief that he was finally home.

As his mother said, “Our pride is much, much stronger than our pain.”

Moments like this are difficult for outsiders to fully grasp.

This is what it is like when a nation is a family—an extended family where, despite deep divisions and constant contention, and despite what many outsiders may not understand, there remains a shared sense of fate and destiny that ultimately overrides internal differences.

I think of the Simon and Garfunkel line, “Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you.” It captures the feeling in Israel. All eyes have been focused on the return of this hero, who, despite being injured, rushed to defend his fellow countrymen as soon as he learned they were under attack. He was as has been noted, “the first one in and the last one out.”

His courage and the outpouring from across the country reveal a kind of national intimacy that is rare in most other nations. It is a source of its strength and resilience, a distinguishing characteristic that makes Israel unique and which its enemies and detractors will never understand.

by,

Rabbi Stuart Weinblatt

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FALLEN SOLDIERS|VICTIMS OF TERROR

WE REMEMBER -- A FALLEN SOLDIER

Sgt. Maj. (res.) Asael Babbad, 38 years old, from the Binyamin region of Samaria

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WE REMEMBER -- THE FINAL HOSTAGE RETURNS HOME

Master Sgt. Ran Gvili, 24 years old, from Meitar, our final hostage from the October 7, 2023 terrorist attack returns home to Israel. The ZRC joins the Jewish world and our brothers and sisters in mourning.

Click on the image to the left to hear IDF commanders pay their respects to Ran as he is found in Gaza by singing Hatikvah. "All for one. Leave no man behind!"

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Shira Gvili mourns at her brother's coffin

MAY THEIR MEMORIES BE FOR A BLESSING

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THIS WEEK IN ISRAEL

We must always remember!

In an emotional ceremony, after 843 days, 12 hours, 6 minutes, Hostages Square clock goes dark with Ran Gvili’s return. Speaking to the crowd, Gvili’s sister, Shira, expressed a bittersweet sense of relief. “On October 7, our clock stopped… Now we can really stop the clock,” she said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that the next phase of U.S. President Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan would focus on disarming Hamas and demilitarizing the Strip, not reconstruction. According to the prime minister, demilitarization “will happen—as our friend Trump said—the easy way or the hard way, but it will happen.”

"united with israel"

“Land for peace,” the mantra since Camp David, has brought the Palestinian-Israeli conflict to a dead end, with Palestinian militias remaining active despite the promise of statehood. It’s now time to reverse this broken policy into “peace for land,” where Palestinian acceptance of Zionism earns them territory to govern themselves. 

Do we have a partner for peace in the PA? It does not seem like it. Recipients of Palestinian Authority terror stipends residing in Jordan reported over the last three hours yesterday that their monthly payments had been deposited into their bank accounts. 

The US return on its $3.8 billion investment in Israel. "Israel serves as the largest US military beachhead with no American boots on the ground."

Herzog: Denying Jewish self-determination is antisemitism. After the horrors of the Holocaust, the world vowed: ‘Never Again.’ When Jews feel compelled to hide their identities on the streets of Europe, we are failing to meet this vow.

ISRAELI INNOVATION

Fueling the Israeli Economy: Boeing and the Technion Jointly Develop Sustainable Aviation Fuels. This special collaboration will help advance Israeli innovation, energy security, and civil aviation; After concluding the project feasibility study, Boeing and the Technion announce advancement to the next stage of practical development

Iron Beam ends the economics of asymmetric warfare. Israel’s revolutionary laser defense rewrites the rules for low-cost attacks and restores deterrence balance.

Are we as Jews safe in the "most civilized nations" in the world? Or is history again repeating itself? Over 800 severe antisemitic incidents reported in 2025 with 21 Jews murdered, the Diaspora Ministry reveals.  Most incidents were recorded in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Australia, and Canada, the ministry found.

The group behind a pro-Hamas demonstration near a Queens synagogue earlier this month and a series of other events targeting Jewish religious institutions has deep pockets — and deep roots, which criss-cross the country and link it to various extremist cells — according to publicly available tax filings.

Click on the image below to watch children in Gaza call for Hamas to "stay away" from them

Click below to watch former hostage Sagui Dekel Chen share his story and sing with the legendary Idan Reichel.

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