What can we do?

It has been difficult to find the words this week. The news that reached us after Shabbat, that the remains of six hostages had been found, and the subsequent identification of them as Carmel Gat z"l, Ori Danino z"l, Eden Yerushalmi z"l, Alex Lobanov z"l, Almog Sarusi z"l, and Hersh Goldberg-Polin z’’l was heartbreaking. Learning that they were executed by Hamas 2-3 days prior to being found made it even more devasting. As Dr. Mijal Bitton wrote many months ago, this pain that we are feeling here, and our brothers and sisters are feeling even more acutely in Israel, is Peoplehood. It is the connection that Jews near and far can feel for one another. We feel it in joy, and we feel it at difficult times like this.