At long last, the remains of Ran Gvili, the final Israeli hostage, have been brought home to Israel by his fellow IDF soldiers. We welcome the closing of this chapter with heavy hearts—grateful that Ran can be laid to rest among his people after his murder by Hamas, and heartbroken that he, and so many others, did not return alive.
With this moment, we mark the completion of a sacred mission: the return of all 255 hostages, the living and the dead. We mourn all those killed on and since October 7, and we hold Ran’s family and all bereaved families in our prayers, hopeful that laying their loved ones to rest may bring some measure of comfort and peace.
Jewish tradition includes the mitzvah of “kevod hameit” – that honoring the dead and bringing them to burial is a holy obligation—an affirmation of human dignity even in the face of unbearable loss. It also commands us not to turn away from those held in captivity and not to abandon hope, even when the outcome is heartbreaking. In fulfilling this responsibility, we honor both the sanctity of life and the dignity of memory.
Even as we mourn, we also pray for the renewal of the people and the land; for healing for all who are wounded in body and spirit; for strength, resilience, and the beginning of a long process of restoration and comfort. We continue to yearn for a day when Israelis and their neighbors can live with dignity and security, and when the words of our daily prayer for peace—Sim shalom ba’olam—are no longer an aspiration, but a lived reality.
May Ran Gvili’s memory be a blessing.
As we pray each day, “Oseh shalom bimromav, hu yaaseh shalom aleinu, v’al kol Yisrael, v’al kol yoshvei teiveil, v’imru: Amen.” May the one who creates peace on high bring peace to us, to all Israel, and to all who dwell on Earth. And we say: Amen