The two-month anniversary of the October 7 terror attack also marked the lighting of the first candle of Hanukah.
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Israeli society, including the Haredi community, is tirelessly raising awareness about the urgent need to release all hostages. This week, a series of events in the Haredi community were held in Jerusalem and Bnei Brak.
Some of the initiatives below are grassroots efforts, while others were launched by Brothers on the Home Front, an organization coordinating Haredi initiatives.
Eralu Yeshiva, Jerusalem
As all parts of Israeli society relate to the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, the students of Erlau Yeshiva in the Katamon neighborhood of Jerusalem, along with Unity in Action, have placed 138 Hanukah menorahs in the yeshiva auditorium, corresponding with the number of hostages, each bearing the name of a hostage.
The yeshiva students prepared the menorahs for the lighting, pouring olive oil and placing wicks, while singing emotional songs and praying for the release of the captives. They distributed the names of the captives among themselves, intending to remember them in prayer for their return, and during the lighting of the Hanukkah candles, traditionally known as a time of special favor, they mentioned the captives in anticipation of their speedy and safe return to their families.
“When learning the laws of lighting Hanukkah candles, we decided to light the candles for the hostages who cannot and to grant them a mitzvah”, said one yeshiva student.
Meanwhile, Haredi women hung posters with the names of the hostages and a Yiddish call to read Psalms. Since the war's onset, pamphlets featuring photos and names of the hostages have been distributed, allowing individuals to "adopt" a hostage and read Psalms for their safe return.
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Yiddish posters in Jerusalem's Mea Shearim neighborhood for return of hostages
(Photo: Courtesy)
5 View gallery
Yiddish posters in Jerusalem's Mea Shearim neighborhood for return of hostages
(Photo: Courtesy)
“Since the war began, we felt the need to do something to return the hostages. It was unlike any other disaster. I decided, together with friends, to distribute the names of the hostages among the women of the neighborhood, where each one undertakes to read Psalms for one hostage, "said Shifra, a resident of Meah Shearim.
"When I discovered the desire to join the effort, I printed posters in Yiddish and posted them in order to increase awareness. The initiative was a success and it was even copied in Borough Park in the United States."
Bnei Brak
Throughout the holiday, the names of the hostages will be projected onto the main Rabbi Akiva Street in Bnei Brak, urging prayers for their safe return.
“All citizens of Israel are concerned for the welfare of the hostages and we see unprecedented empathy from the Haredi sector as well,” Brothers on the Home Front said.
Mevo Horon
Students at Nehora Yeshiva in Mevo Horon have set up an empty table, similar to those positioned in various places around the world, to raise awareness of the hostages’ absence and the anticipation for their return.
The students held a prayer for the hostages’ return and the well-being of IDF soldiers and read psalms in their honor.
After installations in Tel Aviv, Times Square, Copenhagen, Milan and Rome, the display most synonymous with the campaign for the hostages' return is, for the first time, being set up in a Haredi yeshiva.
The students ended the prayer with a song. “As for our brothers, the whole house of Israel, who are given over to trouble or captivity”.
Nehora Yeshiva Dean Rabbi Avraham Greenboim said, “Since the disaster occurred, we wish to act for the people of Israel. The yeshiva students who added study programs and prayers, sought to be bound to the international Jewish message by which we are not whole until all hostages return, using the empty table to illustrate it. We adopted the Sabbath Table initiative, which has become a symbol around the world, to say that we are an integral part of this struggle. These days, we pray for the well-being of the hostages and the success of the IDF soldiers”.