I wear around my neck a charcoal-coloured dog tag that says the words: “My heart is held hostage in Gaza”.

Since October 7, this quote has felt so accurate for many of us. We live our lives: go to work, study, spend time with family, listen to music and try to experience joy, but something is missing. The word for heart in Hebrew is lev. When God’s angel speaks to Moshe from the burning bush, the angel is described as being b’lahavat esh. 12th Century sage Iben Ezra understands this word as “from the heart of the fire”. God is calling out from the heart of the fire trying to speak to the hearts of the passersby, desperately trying to get at least one human being to notice. 

It has been a tremendous effort to keep the attention on the hostages, and to keep hearts aligned with their families. This Shabbat, we hold our collective breath and pray that, unlike Pharoah, those in positions of power soften their hearts and let our people go now. Our hearts can’t take much more of this. I look forward to removing the dog tag, knowing that the days ahead will be filled with heartache mixed with joy. 

I want to share a “Prayer for Returned Hostages” and this painful poem that I translated from Hebrew by Shir Shabbat-Sapir titled The Burning Bush. 

I was the burning bush

Fire raged inside of me

My pain was not consumed for many days.

Water did not help

Neither did the powders and spells

Poured on my head by people

I waited for a divine presence

A human messenger

That would wake me up 

And when the fire was extinguished

And my pain had gone away

Nothing was left of me

Shabbat Shalom,
Yacov