- Michael Balaban
Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia President and CEO

Today, I am writing to you from Israel. This trip has been a paradox - days mixed with mourning and celebrating, witnessing the impact of our community’s generous giving and seeing the continued need. 

On June 8, as many of you know, the IDF launched a mission to rescue four of the remaining hostages – Noa Argamani, Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov and Shlomi Ziv – bringing them safely back to Israel where they were reunited with their families and received medical care. Since then, the horrific details of their abuse and mistreatment while in captivity have been revealed. Although I am not surprised by these brutal details, I am still devastated knowing the terror these innocent victims had to endure.

During the rescue mission and in a number of other IDF operations over the past few weeks, many soldiers lost their lives. On June 8, Israel Police anti-terror commander Arnon Zamora was killed in the rescue operation. On June 10, an IDF officer and three soldiers were killed as they attempted to enter a booby-trapped building in Rafah. I’ve attended multiple shivas over these past few days and witnessed the crushing grief these soldiers’ families are enduring. 

And at the same time, I am also attending the weddings of two family friends, whose soldiers have been momentarily relieved of their duties to celebrate. It is an odd dichotomy of overlapping joy and grief. 

Four hostages have been freed, but a number of IDF soldiers lost their lives during the rescue mission. The hostages are courageously sharing their stories of physical and psychological abuse while in captivity, but the world has turned a disbelieving eye on these testimonies. Weddings and reunions are taking place alongside funerals honoring those who made the ultimate sacrifice.

This juxtaposition serves as a much-needed reminder that there is still joy or simcha to be found, even amongst the mourning. Despite the war, life keeps moving forward here in Israel, as a hopeful testament to the ceaseless resilience of the Israeli people. 

May all of the remaining hostages be rescued, and may all of the people in Israel find joy once more.

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