Yesterday, 3 young women were returned home from an unfathomable 470+ days in Hamas captivity. In an emotional moment, the Israeli reporter’s voice caught as she announced: Doron, Emily, and Romi have arrived home. They are home.
It seems fitting, somehow, that while the traditional prayer for hostages is long—expressing our collective hopes for safety and freedom, the prayer we say when a captive is freed is simple and short:
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם. מַתִּיר אֲסוּרִים:
Baruch atah Adonai, Elohainu melech haolam, matir asurim.
The prayer reads in English:
Blessed are You Adonai, Lord our God, King of the universe, who frees the captive.
There is no flowery language, no extraneous words—it is gratitude, pure and simple. And it was the expression of the entire nation of Israel, wherever we are. Hallelujah—they are home.
And now, we return to our fervent prayer—and our activism—to bring them ALL home.
– Rabbi Sari Laufer