On the road to recovery as Chanukah approaches

As I drove south toward Kibbutz Sa’ad to perform a brit milah, the day couldn’t have been more picturesque. The fields that lined the road were glistening in the morning light as plants were being watered. It felt almost as if the war had never happened, though there were still reminders along the way.

As a flock of birds flew overhead, my memory flashed back to when I drove south just after Hamas attacked on Oct. 7, 2023. During the first weeks of the war, I helped return a close friend’s car to his family. Like many other soldiers, he picked up and left that Shabbat morning of Simchat Torah, unable to return for weeks. As my son and I made that trip, rockets flew overhead. We were thankful to deliver the car safely.

The roads in southern Israel have bomb shelters at each bus stop. Rocket fire had already been a mainstay in the region for at least two decades. Due to the proximity to the Gaza Strip, the time until impact is 15 to 30 seconds. The almost daily routine of running for cover took its toll on residents. The shelters had been decorated with illustrations and bright colors to ease the anxiety of children who had to frequent the spaces all too often. Each small structure is its own work of art.

When I saw these shelters, I recalled the story of Hersh Goldberg-Polin and Aner Shapira. The morning of Oct. 7, the two best friends, along with many others, were trapped in one of these spaces after fleeing the Nova music festival in Re’im. When Hamas terrorists discovered the tightly packed group of people, they began throwing grenades into the structure. Aner heroically threw them back—one by one for a total of seven—until the eighth one finally detonated, ripping off part of Hersh’s left arm and taking Aner’s life. Hersh was kidnapped into Gaza and murdered there in late August 2024.

As I neared the kibbutz, I noticed a traffic circle lined with yellow chairs. Many of these monuments still stand throughout Israel. But something was different. Unlike the past two years, the chairs were empty, devoid of hostage images; only one remained for Ran Gvili, whose body is still being held in Gaza. The bomb shelters, too, seemed emptier, as if finally at rest. For the first time in decades, they felt less necessary.

When I arrived at Kibbutz Sa’ad, waiting for the bris to begin, I looked up the history of the location on my phone. The day the war began, the local security forces successfully thwarted all attempted infiltrations—not a single terrorist broke through.

But many of their neighboring communities were not as lucky. Kibbutz Be’eri, just six miles down the road, was ravaged. I can only imagine the simultaneous relief and guilt the residents of Kibbutz Sa’ad struggled with in the subsequent days.

The ceremony was held in the kibbutz’s synagogue, where family and friends congregated from all over Israel. It ended, as always, with Mourner’s Kaddish; yet this time, it felt different.

Over the past two years, I lost two family members for whom I said Mourner’s Kaddish. Since the two deaths were almost a year apart, the recitation concluded just after the present ceasefire went into effect. The first morning I prayed without saying Kaddish was bittersweet. I did feel a weight lifted from my shoulders, being able to pray at my own pace. At the same time, I missed the daily reminder of those we lost.

This blend of relief and lingering grief mirrors what the citizens of Israel have begun to feel as the last of the hostages return home, both living and dead. As that weight has been lifted, Israelis have been able to get back to normal life, including celebrating happy events (simchas), with less tension than in the past two years of incessant wartime news.

The question remains: How long will this last? Some abroad have argued that peace was always available if Israel had simply stopped fighting sooner. The calm, however, came not from restraint but from seeing the conflict through to achieve real security changes.

There is one other roadside attraction visible throughout Israel this time of year. During the Hebrew month of Kislev, giant chanukiyahs can be seen, awaiting the eight-day holiday to begin this Sunday, Dec. 14. Each night another light will be illuminated, reminding travelers of miracles past and present.

The two central themes of Chanukah are the container of oil and the military victory. Many choose to focus on the miraculous light that burned for eight days despite the scarcity of oil; however, the war for Jewish independence, which continued well past the end of the story, was no less miraculous and no less necessary.

May this Chanukah season be filled with miracles for the entire Jewish people. May we find security free from enemy threats, and may lasting peace shine forth from Israel, spreading its light to the entire world.

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