I am always struck by how the Scriptures refuse to remain in the past. We read ancient words, and yet they continue to speak directly into the present, sometimes uncomfortably so. God’s Word does not age. We do.

“There is hope for your future,” declares the LORD, “and your children will return to their own territory.”
Jeremiah 31:17

This past Monday, January 26, we received the news that after 843 days, Ran Gvili, the last Israeli hostage held in Gaza, was identified and returned to Israel for burial. Ran was killed on the morning of October 7, 2023, at the age of 24. For more than two years, his family lived without certainty, without closure, suspended between grief and waiting. Now, at last, they can lay him to rest.

I do not believe it is coincidence that this happened during the week we read Beshalach.

When Pharaoh finally released the children of Israel, Scripture records a detail that might easily be overlooked:

Now when Pharaoh had let the people go, God did not lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines, even though it was near, for God said, ‘The people might change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt.’
Therefore God led the people around by way of the wilderness to the Red Sea, and the sons of Israel went up in battle formation from the land of Egypt.
And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had made the sons of Israel solemnly swear, saying, ‘God will certainly take care of you, and you shall carry my bones from here with you.’
Exodus 13:17–19

Joseph had been gone for generations when the people left Egypt. Still, they carried him with them. His bones were a quiet reminder that redemption is not only about where you are going, but about who you refuse to leave behind. God was taking His people out of slavery, but He was also bringing something home.

That act carried meaning far beyond the moment itself. It pointed both to the physical fulfillment of God’s promises concerning the Land and to a deeper restoration still to come, one the prophet Ezekiel would later be shown:

The hand of the LORD was upon me, and He brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley, and it was full of bones…
Then He said to me, ‘Son of man, can these bones live?’
…‘Behold, I am going to make breath enter you so that you may come to life, and you will know that I am the LORD.’
Ezekiel 37:1–6

Many today ask why Israelis insist on bringing our people back from Gaza for burial. While Jewish law requires it, I believe the reason runs deeper than law. It is rooted in Joseph’s ancient request. It is echoed in Ezekiel’s vision. It is bound to the conviction that God’s promises do not end with death.

This coming Shabbat, something will feel different in our home. Every week, during the blessings, we have prayed for the hostages to be brought home. Ran was the last. This week, we will give thanks that he is back, while continuing to pray for God’s protection over our land.

We remember Ran.
We honor his life.
And we hold his family in prayer.

Shabbat Shalom,
Moran