Dear Friends,
843 days. That's three times as long as a baby is in the womb. It's long enough to travel to Mars and back twice. It's nearly two and a half years, and it's a long time to hold your breath. But that's what the Jewish people have been doing. Holding our breath. Waiting for the last of us to come home. And finally, Ran Gvili is home.
For the first time in ten years there are no Jewish hostages on enemy soil. We made a promise to our brothers and sisters in Israel that we would leave no Jew behind. And we wouldn't give up no matter how difficult it became or how long it took.
We take this moment to express how deeply grateful we are to the dedication of hundreds, even thousands, soldiers, doctors, engineers, rabbis, and more. This was no simple mission; it was a testament to our people’s resolve.
And 3,390 years before, on the exact day that Ran Gvili was returned, we see the same mission in this week's Torah portion. The Jews are finally escaping slavery in Egypt. They are loading up gold and silver, everything that had been owed to them, and running for their lives.
In the middle of that account, however, the Torah interrupts itself to mention that while the Jewish people were gathering material riches for the journey, Moshe was collecting the bones of our forefather Yosef.
Yosef had made his Jewish brethren promise that they would not leave his remains in a foreign land, but carry them back to Israel when the inevitable redemption came. It was a promise that Moshe kept, despite the chaos and tumult in which he found himself during the exodus. It was a promise that spoke to the character of Moshe as a leader and to the priorities of the Jewish people. No Jew left behind.
We make promises all the time. Sometimes we do it without thinking. Some promises go by the wayside, and we don't think much of it. But there are other promises that are important. Deeply significant. We promise something to a parent on their deathbed, or we promise something to our children, and keeping those promises holds the relationship together. It becomes a matter of principle — and sometimes even of our identity.
Likewise, we come to crossroads in our lives when upholding a promise we made is difficult. Sometimes we choose material gain or to get ahead in our careers instead.
But we made a promise to the Almighty when we were at Mount Sinai, and before our souls descended into this world. That we would uphold the Torah and its values, and use our time here for good. So let's honor our promise, by gathering together and celebrating Jewish life! Come and join us for an incredible Shabbat experience with the Chabad Naples family and our famous Kiddush luncheon. We also have a new Sunday morning minyan with learning afterward, our JLI adult education course, and the pre-Purim women's paint and sip. This week, join us for an evening of laughter with Elon Gold. Come connect with our warm and welcoming Jewish community.
Because that, I can assure you, is a promise worth keeping.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Fishel and Ettie Zaklos