Earlier this week, with heightened emotion, we saw the release of three hostages — Romy, Emily & Doron — and as of time of writing, we await the names of the next round of released captives.
Deals, negotiations, concessions, truce —are some of the words being bandied about to describe this phase of our people coming home to our land —an absolute affront and an outrage!
Covenant! The word that aptly describes the relationship between the Jewish nation with Gd, the land of Israel and the Torah.
In today’s Torah portion —which is the very story of the Exodus — an event that we celebrate 8 days out of every year and mention in our prayers “every” single day —Gd tell Moses that he must demand of Pharaoh to “let my people go” — because he is now acting on the “covenant”.
Covenant! What does it actually mean?
A quick google will include in the definition of the word covenant —“an agreement which brings about a relationship of commitment between God and his people”.
This isn’t a deal. This isn’t a negotiation. This is part of the Covenant. Indeed, as one Rabbi noted in his column this week that Jewish connection to the Land of Israel is 16x longer than American existence. It's part of the covenant
To me, we were watching our sisters coming home to our homeland. Simple as that.
Covenant! A commitment that transcends all limitations and conventions, deals and understandings— it’s the ultimate commitment. Merav Berger, the mother of one of the soon to be released hostages expresses the depth of the covenant when she said —
“We are eagerly waiting for our daughters. We also know that this is likely to happen on Shabbat, and it’s not by chance that our enemies are probably aiming for that. It’s important to me, and I’ve been thinking about it a lot in recent days, how I can do this without desecrating the Sabbath,” said the mother.
Incredible. A mother awaiting her daughter who has been held captive 470+ days and this is her quandary? Beyond words. But then again a covenant is beyond words — it’s an essential bond between us and the Almighty.
As we embrace 2025 — let us remember our covenant and connection via Torah and Mitzvah to do just a little more in our lives and may Hashem shower infinite blessings upon each of us, in the very areas that we require for happiness, health, nachas and peace of mind — Amen!