I think that, after this, I'm not going to post about the three Israeli former hostages who have just returned alive to Israel and their families.
I see people doing on social media what people do and turning these three women into symbols.
I understand that drive, it's what people do - but I don't want to participate in it until/unless they endorse being made into a symbol. It's a lot to ask of people who have been through so much.
(I'm also not going to judge anyone else for their well-meaning discussion of the returned hostages. Not my place by any stretch of the imagination.)
Like many of you, I watched live video of their return and was touched to see their reunions with their family members, but one video has been replaying in my head since I saw it.
In this video, of one of the former hostages (not going to post it, won't use any names here) is crying, and her brother holds her as he quietly says the shehecheyanu.
For non-Jews: the shehecheyanu is a short blessing Jews recite when doing something for the first time in any year. The last time I said it was on the first night of Chanukah as we lit the first night's candle.
Translated from Hebrew:
Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Sovereign of all, who has kept us alive, sustained us, and brought us to this season.
I'm not religious, but I don't think I'll ever hear or speak the shehecheyanu again without thinking of this moment. I think perhaps I've failed to properly appreciate it until now.
I wish healing for them and their families and for the prompt return of all the other hostages.
