For two years, we prayed for the hostages to be released. We prayed at shul, at home, with our children at bedtime. We said Psalms, cried, begged, and pleaded. Now, thank G‑d, all the living hostages have come home and we couldn’t be happier. The posters are being taken down, the urgency is gone. But I feel strangely empty. We put so much heart into this. Now what? I am overjoyed, but also a little lost.

Answer

We owe it to the hostages that their story should change us forever. We can't go back to who we were before. Whatever we did until now must not end. On the contrary, we need to go bigger.

We loved the hostages as our own brothers and sisters. That love must continue and extend to all our brothers and sisters. We cared for people we never met. Let's keep that going, and also care more for the people we have met.

We prayed for the hostages to be freed. Our prayers were answered. Now our prayers need to go to the next level. Not just for the remaining hostages to go free, but for the whole world to go free. Not just for peace in the Middle East, but peace everywhere. Not just an end to this war, but an end to all wars. Not just no more tragic death, but no more death at all.

Until Moshiach comes, we are all still captives, captives of a world that does not yet know its own light. We cannot rest until that light is revealed.

Sounds idealistic? Maybe. But after what we have witnessed, we know the impossible can happen.

We saw life return from the edge. We saw miracles unfold before our eyes.

The resurrection of the dead is no longer only a prophecy. We watched it happen. We saw Evyatar David, the hostage forced to dig his own grave, walk to freedom on his own two feet.

And the return of Jews to their G‑d is not just a dream, it is reality. We saw Rom Braslavsky come home after two years in hell, and the first thing he asked for was tefillin. We saw Bar Kuperstein, who taught himself how to pray in a tunnel in Gaza, ask for tzitzit upon his release.

The dead have come back to life. Souls have come back to their source. We have seen it: redemption is possible and miracles are real.

So do not stop praying; just shift your prayers. The same heart that cried for the hostages can now cry for all who are still captive: the lost souls, the disconnected Jews, the world still waiting to wake up.

That love and concern for people we never met was not a reaction to tragedy. It was a revelation of who we truly are at our core. We need to hold onto it. We really are one.

Keep doing good. Keep loving. Keep praying. Just go bigger. What we longed for in those dark days is exactly what Moshiach will bring: unity, light, freedom, and peace.

The hostages are home. But the story is not over. The next chapter is called Redemption. You did a mitzvah for the hostages, now do a mitzvah for the world. Now that they are free, let us pray that we will be too.