Friends,
“On Passover, we're supposed to imagine ourselves coming out of Egypt,” Noam Peri, the daughter of 80-year-old hostage Chaim Peri said last week, “Now we must imagine ourselves, or our 80-year-old fathers, as captives in Gaza.”
I’m a secular Israeli kibbutznik, culturally Jewish. But this year, like so many others, I'm finding deeper meaning in the symbolism of Passover.
Almost every day since October 7, I’ve volunteered with the Hostage Family’s Forum headquarters here in Israel. I have friends who were killed or taken hostage, and I am committed to doing everything in my power to return each and every hostage to their family’s arms.
This Passover will be uniquely painful for those I have worked with. Chairs left empty at the seder table for the very first time. The absence of a brother’s laugh, a daughter’s jokes, a parent’s embrace.
At our seders, we not only remember and recall the story of the Israelites held captive in Egypt and the Exodus, but we re-enact it. We celebrate hard-earned freedom and re-learn the values of compassion and empathy, even for our enemies. We are called upon not to forget the pain of oppression and suffering, and our calling to build a better future.
But while over 130 people remain held hostage in Gaza – and with time running out as dozens are reported to have died – many Jews in Israel and around the world feel that we cannot celebrate that freedom. For many of us too, a family feast of celebration strikes a discordant note while so many families in both Israel and Gaza endure unfathomable grief.
As we gather for the holiday, many of us will leave empty seats at our tables, keeping the hostages vividly in our minds. A reminder that the struggle for freedom is not over. Together, we will draw strength from Moses’ persistent, brave demand of the Pharaoh: “Let my people go!”
Today, on behalf of J Street, I reiterate the call we have made for more than six months now: For the immediate, unconditional release of all those held captive.
There can be no excuse for the crime of hostage-taking. For the relentless pain and anguish Hamas has inflicted on so many families. We will never cease to demand loudly and clearly: Let our people go.
J Street continues to urge American and global leaders to exert firm pressure on all parties involved to reach an urgent deal that reunites families with their loved ones and ends the devastation in Gaza. Currently, this means demanding that countries such as Qatar, Egypt and others with influence on Hamas exert all possible leverage to press them toward compromise.
As hostage families repeatedly tell anyone who will listen: Time is running out.
At this stage, only a negotiated ceasefire can bring freedom for the hostages, end the devastation and allow life-saving aid to safely reach families in Gaza. Longer term, we must work to isolate and disempower Hamas, including by charting a peaceful, diplomatic path toward resolving this conflict once and for all, and ensuring the horrors of October 7 and the ensuing war can never be repeated.
Just as I feel deep empathy with the suffering of hostages, I also share in the pain of families in Gaza struggling to survive – a people hoping to one day achieve their own freedom and self-determination. As the Passover story teaches us, no people should be denied that right.
On behalf of all of us at J Street, I wish you a meaningful Passover. May we draw strength from one another. May we share in our collective pursuit of freedom, safety and security for all Israelis and Palestinians.
Yours sincerely,
Nadav Tamir
Executive Director, J Street Israel
PS. J Street’s Communal Team has worked to create a Haggadah supplement that echoes our values and priorities. If you’d like to use it at your seder, you can download it here.
