Thoughts on the Announcement of a Hostage Release and Ceasefire Deal

10 October 2025

Dear Berith Sholom Family,

Along with you, I have been holding my breath these last few days as a hostage release and ceasefire deal has been discussed in the news.  Today the ceasefire has gone into effect.  On Monday, we hope and pray, will begin the release of the remaining hostages, both the living and the dead.  

Yesterday the Reform Movement released a statement concerning the deal, and I’d like to share it in full: 

After two years of seemingly endless war, we welcome the news that an end is finally in sight. While not a full peace agreement, it is the first and necessary step toward stopping the death and suffering as the hostages come home, the IDF pulls back, long-serving reservists return to their families, and innocent Gazan civilians caught in the crossfire can finally experience a modicum of safety and receive a consistent flow of vitally needed humanitarian aid. The pain and grief of this war will not soon heal, but seeing our hostages finally embraced by their families will fill our aching hearts, as will the sight of bereaved families who will finally have some measure of closure and comfort upon receiving the remains of their loved ones who did not live to see this day.

We are grateful to President Trump and his administration for bringing together this complex plan to end the war. We express our appreciation as well to Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey, who exerted pressure on Hamas to accept this agreement, which also outlines a viable plan for the “day after” in Gaza. We support the Israeli government in its [reported] agreement to release 250 of some of the most-notorious prisoners - many of whom are serving multiple life sentences - and 1,700 Palestinians detained during the course of the war as compensation for the hostages' freedom, a steep price that is necessary to save lives and end the suffering of our brave and nearly broken hostages.

That this plan will be enacted in stages leaves open the possibility that something could derail it at any time, and we implore the Trump administration and its international allies to continue exerting pressure on all sides to abide by the terms of the plan, which are set to follow the release of the hostages. Even getting to this point seemed unimaginable a few weeks ago, so we pray that the forward momentum will continue.

While a Palestinian State – as outlined in the Trump plan – feels remote at this point, a two-state solution in some configuration must remain the worthy, long-term goal for Israelis and Palestinians as they contemplate a future with safety, dignity, and hope for all.

The Jewish people are in the midst of our observance of Sukkot, our biblical harvest festival. As our people in Israel and around the world sit in our fragile booths, we keenly feel the vulnerability and uncertainty of Jewish life. Our simple harvest booths teach us that we cannot find ultimate security in military might alone, and we believe that the expansion and engagement of the Abraham Accords in building a viable and secure Gaza holds enormous potential to create economic, political, and strategic alliances that could change the region for good.

The prophet Micah dreamt of a time when all will one day “sit under their vines and fig trees, and none shall make them afraid.” (Micah 4:4) While we imagine he doubted that his prophecy would be realized in his lifespan, he also recognized that people could not live without hope. Despite the remaining details that need to be worked out, we are buoyed by the thought that this blood-soaked patch of land might know a better tomorrow, in which none will fear the other. We will never stop working for that secure future.

 My emotions are tangled: hope and joy, sorrow and caution, and a great sense of relief.  Ending the ordeal of hostages and their families is reason enough to give thanks; so is ending the bombing of Gaza and its people, and beginning the inflow of humanitarian aid.  But the future, as always, is uncertain: Will the plan continue to be implemented?  Will the peace process recover when there are setbacks?  And it still remains to be seen whether US and worldwide antisemitism will lessen as the process unfolds.  I pray that we, too, will feel a greater sense of security in the near future. 

Yesterday behind-the-scenes negotiator Gershon Baskin (who spoke at a J Street event at Berith Sholom, perhaps twenty years ago) described his role in the back-channel negotiations in a blog post and an interview. His perspective is fascinating ... and heart-breaking.  “This deal could have been done a long time ago,” he says.  How to celebrate, then, when so many human souls have suffered and died due to the intransigence of leaders?

I am also reminded that the enmity between Israelis and Palestinians might have been mitigated a long time ago if the Arab nations had gotten together sometime between 1949 and 1967 and unilaterally proclaimed a Palestinian state in Gaza (then occupied by Egypt) and the West Bank (then occupied by Jordan). They did not do so for political reasons of their own. How much suffering could have been averted?

Yet we are instructed to recognize the good (hakarat ha-tov) and express our gratitude, even in the midst of sorrow for what has been lost, even if the good may not last.  There are brachot (blessings) to help us do that.  On Monday, or when all the hostages have been released, or every time there is a release, it might be appropriate to say Matir Asurim (Who releases the captives).  Shehecheyanu (Who gave us life/sustained us/brought us to this moment) will certainly be appropriate at some point!  The lesser-known HaTov v’ha-Metiv (Who is good and does good) is traditionally recited for happy events that are communal rather than individual.  This seems especially relevant as I will be watching and listening for good things happening in Gaza as well as in Israel and, God willing, in the West Bank.

There is also a brachah to recite in acknowledgement of a divine presence even at times of death and suffering. Dayan ha-Emet (the true Judge/the Judge of truth) speaks of God, as do all brachot, but I also hear in it the reality that we humans know but a portion of the truth.  That helps, because I know I am terribly ambivalent about the role of the US President in closing this deal. I believe he is doing great evil domestically at the same time. I do not think that he closed this deal for altruistic reasons.

But while our Jewish tradition says intentions matter, so do outcomes.  Baskin is very clear: Without President Trump, this could not have happened.  That makes it perhaps the most stunning example I’ve ever seen of “No one is as bad as the worst thing they have ever done.”  It is possible for deeply flawed people to do good, sometimes even at the same moment as they are causing great harm.  I am having trouble wrapping my mind and heart around this, but here it is.

And...

I wonder whether Israel will be able to rehabilitate its standing in the eyes of the world.

I wonder if the people in the US who have denied and denigrated the humanity of Israeli Jews since October 7 will come to understand this as inconsistent with the values that they otherwise hold.

I wonder whether the mainly-Arab peacekeeping force that has been proposed for Gaza will be created.

I wonder whether Hamas will disarm.

I wonder whether Gaza will flourish.

I wonder whether there will be Palestine, secure and self-governing and peaceful toward Israel, in my lifetime.

I wonder whether Israel can resist the power of the extremists in its government and become peaceful within and without. As Isaiah says, Shalom, shalom, la-rachok v'la-karov: Peace, peace, to the faraway and the near. שָׁל֨וֹם ׀ שָׁל֜וֹם לָרָח֧וֹק וְלַקָּר֛וֹב. That's the goal.

My Niskayuna colleague Rabbi Rafi Spitzer wrote the following: 

In just a few days, on Shemini Atzeret, we will gather in sacred memory to mark the second yahrzeit of 7 October—a date that changed so many lives. As we remember, we will also continue to pray, with full hearts, that this new development becomes the beginning of a different chapter: one in which Israelis and Palestinians can live in security, dignity, and peace.

May the One who makes peace in the heavens be with us as we work to bring greater peace and justice into our world.