As I wrap up my month in Israel, I want to share with you two moments from this past week when Bilam’s accidental blessing of the Jewish people, “Ma Tovu Ohalecha Yakov - How good are your tents” came to life.

Reb Steve and I joined hundreds of people in the Takhana Rishona on Sunday. The old Jerusalem train station was transformed into an open-air cultural centre, including incredible restaurants, jewelry stalls and art installations. In the heart of it, covered by a pitched tent, is the performance area. In it, we sang our hearts out to classic and contemporary Israeli songs for the chatufim, Israel’s hostages still in Gaza. Our “tent” was filled with a sense of unity and hope.

The second occurrence was today when we visited the entrance of Kibbutz Shuva, a Gaza border community. Three brothers from the kibbutz, Elran, Kobi and Dror, noticed on October 7 that many soldiers were making their way South. The brothers grabbed all the food from their house and headed out to feed the soldiers. Since then, they have set up a 24-hour open tent, reminiscent of Abraham and Sarah’s home, where soldiers taking a break from Gaza can get a free warm meal, clothing and a place to rest. They call it Shuva Achim, a play on “brothers from Shuva” and a message of hope, that “ our brothers will return,” referring to soldiers and hostages. They serve 3000 meals per day.

May we have a Shabbat of peace and may the hostages be returned to their families and homes.