The Return of Hostages
Louis Har reuniting with his family after the miraculous rescue
At 1:49 a.m. on February 11, 2024, Israeli special forces carried out a complex and perilous hostage rescue operation in Rafah. Israel's elite officers employed their bodies as shields to protect two hostages amidst a flurry of bullets during the dramatic pre-dawn raid that liberated the captives.
The success of the operation relied on a synchronized assault, which involved targeted airstrikes against Hamas terrorist positions. These airstrikes served to divert the attention of the terrorists and eliminate potential threats, thereby enabling the safe extraction of two Jewish hostages, Fernando Simon Marman and Louis Har.
Miraculously, with G-d’s help, Fernando, Louis and all the IDF soldiers involved in the mission returned home safely.
While the details of this mission swiftly garnered international headlines, less well-known is a special event that took place just over a week prior involving Natalie Afgan, the daughter of Louis Har.
She was visiting the United States along with her husband and other family members to raise awareness of her father's plight. Natalie had just concluded a heart-wrenching speech in front of a packed audience at The Shul, Chabad of Bal Harbor, FL, when Mrs. Chanah Lipskar, co-director of the center, came to the podium and said: "It is not the independent power of the Israeli government and the IDF which will bring back our hostages, rather, their strength and power comes from G-d, who is the only one capable of providing a solution.”
Turning to Natalie and her husband, Mrs. Lipskier said, “I ask that you commit to increase some aspects of Torah and Mitzvot, something which may be hard for you so that you can tell G-d that you went out of your nature to do a special Mitzvah and therefore G-d should perform a miracle and go beyond nature as well."
Natalie readily took upon herself to light Shabbat candles while her husband Tom accepted upon himself to wrap Tefillin each day.
Mrs. Lipskar then asked Natalie in what other ways the community could help. Feeling confident that the multitude of prayers & Mitzvot would be answered by her father’s safe return, with great emotion Natalie asked for a second set of Tefillin so that when her father was released, he would have the Tefillin ready to put on daily. At the conclusion of their trip, the family went to pray at the holy Ohel (resting place) of the Chabad Rebbe in Queens, NY, to request a blessing for the safe return of Louis and all the remaining hostages.
Just over a week later, her father Louis along with his friend Fernando were reunited with their families.
While observing the pain and suffering of our brothers and sisters in Israel, we may feel frustrated by our apparent inability to make a significant difference in aiding our soldiers in defeating terrorism and bringing our hostages home. It is tempting to leave it solely to global leaders and policymakers to effect real change in the outcome of the war. However, in reality, each of us must contribute by increasing our observance of Mitzvot and engaging in seemingly small acts of kindness that have a genuine impact.
While it is crucial not to lose sight of the broader perspective, we must never neglect the importance of caring for individuals and recognizing the power of seemingly “minor” positive acts.
In this week's Torah portion, Pikudei, which literally means “numbers/count”, we learn about the meticulous accounting that Moses conducted of all the various materials and contributions that the Jewish people gave towards the construction of the Tabernacle in the desert.
In the "Building Campaign" to create a dwelling place for G-d on earth, it wasn't only the large contributions that were deemed important. Rather, G-d instructed Moses to count and value each contribution, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant it may appear relative to the total sum. G-d wished for everyone to be involved. When each individual gives their best effort, the collective result is much greater than what could have been accomplished by a select few.
The building of the Tabernacle which served as a home for G-d on earth also serves as a lesson for how we should conduct ourselves in our own lives. Judaism teaches us that every single person, animal, plant, and inanimate object serves an indispensable role in this world. Every moment of time exists for a purpose. Everyone contributes something unique in G‑d’s masterplan for creation.
First, a person must make an account of one’s potential; one must know who he or she is and what one can do. Afterwards, from time to time, a person must calculate how one has employed the potentials and resources with which they have been endowed and what they have achieved with them.
In the personal sphere, this implies that every man and woman must be aware of the world around him or her, and see it as an organic whole. There is no way any one person, no matter how great their capabilities, can function successfully entirely on their own. And when one sees themself as an element within a greater picture, a whole which is greater than the parts it encompasses, their individual importance is enhanced rather than diminished. For one’s personal identity becomes fused with the larger unity in which they share.
Let us take upon ourselves to do an additional Mitzvah in merit of the safety of our brothers, sisters, and all good people in Israel and around the world and usher in a time of peace and prosperity with the coming of Redemption.
As Maimonides, Rabbi Moshe Ben Maimon (1135, Córdoba, Spain- 1204, Fustat, Egypt), states, “Throughout the entire year, a person should always look at himself as equally balanced between merit and sin and the world as equally balanced between merit and sin… if he performs one mitzvah, he tips his balance and that of the entire world to the side of merit and brings deliverance and salvation to himself and others…”
