The Headquarters for the Families of the Abducted and Missing was established less than 24 hours after Hamas’s horrific attack on Israel on October 7. In the attack, approximately 1,300 innocent civilians were murdered and hundreds were taken captive by Hamas.

The headquarters is volunteer-based with the goal of returning all the captives safely home to their families, now! In addition, the headquarters provides professional help and support to the families, including a medical system that works to promote immediate medical assistance to those captives who have already been freed. It provides psychological assistance and support to the families, and promotes unceasing efforts through all local, regional, and international channels to return the captives. The headquarters continues initiating projects and formulating creative ideas that will connect people’s hearts.

One of these initiatives is a new, special Haggadah booklet (“telling the Passover story”) for this year called “The Freedom Haggadah.” The new booklet of Passover prayers and celebration, begins thus:

“We will not be able to be redeemed until the last son of our captives returns.”

And until our prayer is answered, this headquarters will not stop fighting. The special Haggadah  booklet is interwoven with texts from freed captives and texts written by the families of the living and dead – moving passages that testify to the magnitude of the pain alongside hope and faith, texts that testify to faith in divine miracles.

Many of the freed captives said that what strengthened them during their time in captivity was their faith in God, which grew stronger. They mentioned visible miracles that happened to them there, after they called on God and asked Him to give them a sign and token of hope. And indeed, it happened.

The additional passages are in the margins of the Haggadah booklet and relate to the traditional texts read on this special evening. Each passage was given a title from the words of the Haggadah. I have highlighted the titles of the quoted passages so that you can distinguish between the author’s words and the title taken from the Haggadah. Here are a few passages from this special Haggadah that particularly moved me.

Omar Shem Tov, a survivor of captivity who spent about 500 days in captivity:

“The one who distinguishes between light and darkness – I knew and felt from the first moment that I was not alone, that the Creator of the universe was watching over me. I spoke to Him all the time. Thanks to the connection and faith in God, miracles happened to me. For example, during the captivity I was in a small, dark tunnel for 50 days with little food, which ran out over time. On the fiftieth day, after five consecutive days without any light, during which I ate one biscuit a day and drank a little salt water, I asked God to help me and get me out of there, no matter what. Two hours later my captor arrived and told me that I was moving to another tunnel. It was a clear miracle. Even in the darkness, I had an inner light that helped me get through all the hardships.”

Shai Wankert, father of captivity survivor Omar Wankert:

“And the Israelites groaned from their labor and cried out – Enough, we have had enough of all this crazy, inconceivable situation. Enough! Everyone needs to be home! We want the light to return to the entire country, to the entire people who support us and are in distress. We see the faces of the people and the identification of the people of Israel. We must return the light to everyone!”

Eli Shtevy – father of Eden Shtevy who is still captive in Gaza:

“With a strong hand and an outstretched arm – we are in a situation of biblical proportions. The entire Jewish people are captives in hard labor in Gaza, along with all the hostages who are still there. I pray and expect that God will give the Hamas terrorists the ten plagues, as He did to Egypt, until they understand that they need to release all the hostages. My belief is that God sends us from above the tools, the messengers and the strong hand to defeat the forces of evil and with God’s help at the end of the day I believe that everyone will be freed.”

I purchased 15 such Haggadah booklets this year and during the reading at Seder night we are reading and integrating them into the traditional Haggadah sections. This is so as not to forget, and to make known the voices of our brethren crying out to us from the earth – the captives who are in hell and their voices that come to us through their families who expect and await true redemption.

The holiday of Passover symbolizes freedom, the transition from slavery to being free people, the transition from a rainy and gloomy season to a season of blooming light and festive sunshine. This holiday also symbolizes walking in the desert in an unsown land and the miracles and wonders that God performed along the way. A holiday that symbolizes the guiding hand that is always there in keeping with the ancient covenant between God and the children of Israel.

We read and pray and hope that thanks to the covenant, God will save us this time too from our cruel enemies and return all our captives home. And finally, a passage that particularly moved me.

Ilan Gilboa Dalal, father of Guy Gilboa Dalal who is still captive in Gaza:

“Next year in built-up Jerusalem – the story of the Exodus from Egypt symbolizes the liberation from slavery to freedom. This Passover, we will remember that freedom is not only a right but also a responsibility. Just as the Holy One, blessed be He, redeemed the children of Israel from slavery in Egypt, so we must work for the liberation of all who are held in captivity or slavery, and be a voice for those who have no voice.

“Can we sit quietly while our brothers and sisters suffer terribly in captivity? Can we forget the pain of their families? Guy Gilboa Dalal, my son who has been kidnapped in Gaza for over a year and a half, longs to be free and return to his life, and cannot celebrate the holiday with his family for the second year in a row. We, his family, cannot celebrate the holiday while Guy is still suffering in captivity. When we proclaim, ‘Next Year in Jerusalem,’ we dedicate a prayer for the speedy return home of Guy and the rest of the kidnapped.”

May this be a meaningful biblical festival filled with faith!

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