An Inverted Reality
Following the miraculous hostage rescue in Rafah over a month ago (as detailed in last week's email), a few of the officers who took part in the mission shared their experiences during an impactful media interview:
“Was the risk worth the rescue of two people?” the reporter asked. Commander D doesn't think for long and answers: "We don't look at in terms of a person being worth the life of another, and if two soldiers die the operation is a failure. It's not a zero-sum game. There is something here that's far bigger in its substance. I won't say that we in the unit are worth less, but we've taken on ourselves the understanding that we're ready to be harmed for something bigger than a single person, that's who we are."
Finding Community in a Bomb Shelter
A few hours before the start of Purim this week, I received a call from a member of the JBN community. He and his family were in Israel for an extended stay and suddenly found themselves in the midst of war. Air raid sirens had been sounding regularly, forcing them in and out of bomb shelters throughout the day.
Because of the security situation, he was unable to go to synagogue to hear the reading of the Megillah. Yet Purim had already begun in Israel, and he was determined not to miss the mitzvah.
The Power of Transformation: From Gaza to Times Square
When Segev Kalfon was held hostage in Gaza, he witnessed fellow captives paraded on stages before evil crowds in cruel propaganda spectacles. In the suffocating darkness of the tunnels, he made a quiet vow: if he were ever put up on that stage, he would use it not for humiliation — but for faith. He dreamed of declaring Shema Yisrael, Judaism’s timeless proclamation of unity, before the very savagery that sought to break him.
By the time he was released, the staged ceremonies had stopped. The captors had removed the platform.
So he found another one.
Celebrating Life
On Purim we celebrate one of the most joyous times of the year- the holiday of Purim.
It commemorates the (Divinely orchestrated) salvation of the Jewish people in the ancient Persian empire from Haman’s plot “to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews, young and old, infants and women, in a single day.” Literally “lots” in ancient Persian, Purim was so named since Haman had thrown lots to determine when he would carry out his diabolical scheme, as recorded in the Megillah (book of Esther).