A Shavuot Prayer for the Release of the 58 Hostages
Rabbi Menachem Creditor
June 1, 2025
God of Revelation, God of Silence,
On this Shavuot, as we stand again at Sinai, trembling as did our ancestors beneath the mountain, we cry out to You from beneath another shadow—604 unendurable days of captivity for 58 souls held by Hamas since October 7, 2023. We bring them with us to Sinai. We place their names at the foot of that holy mountain, where thunder roared, and a shofar blast pierced the heavens (Ex. 19:16-17).
We remember the fear and trembling of long ago, how the mountain loomed like a threat (Shabbat 88a). And we remember that they said, na’aseh v’nishma—we will do and we will understand (Ex. 24:7). We, too, even and especially when You are hidden and the world trembles with injustice, commit to action.
As the earth once held its breath, fearing it might return to chaos if dignity were not upheld, we now hold ours, aching for the moment when our family return home. God, release Your thunder not as a threat, but as a cry for justice. Let the forced silence of captivity be shattered by the sounds of reunion, of prayers answered, of mothers and fathers and sisters and brothers and daughters and sons weeping with joy.
Reveal Yourself, Holy One, not through fire and cloud alone, but through human courage, compassion, and unrelenting pursuit of justice. Let this be the day the mountain lifts—not in fear, but in freedom.
May the Torah we cocreate with You this day carry with it the power to heal, to liberate, to bring every captive home.
Amen.
