Right after being freed from Hamas captivity, Israeli Chief Rabbi Rav Kalman Ber sent an emotional letter to Emily Damari, Doron Steinbrecher, and Romi Gonen.
In the letter’s opening, Rav Ber expressed his joy at their release: “We are happy to see your salvation. After a long and tough fight that claimed many sacrifices, you got to come out of the darkness into the light. You returned from darkness and death and with Heaven’s help, your chains were cut and you were saved from captivity. You got to return to your family and return home.”
The Chief Rabbi also acknowledged the hostages still being held, sharing: “We are still in the midst of a struggle to free all of the hostages and we see that all efforts are being made to quickly reach this goal.”

Rav Ber went on to address the hardship the hostages endured, citing the teachings of the sages: “We know how difficult those black days were. The sages of blessed memory list the most difficult situations a human can be in. At the end, they say: ‘Captivity is the most difficult of all.’ Why? Because the fact that one’s reality and existence depend on his captor, is unfathomable suffering, every moment seems like eternity. Even more so when the captors don’t see the value of humanity and their idea of the meaning of life and death is not at all human.”
The letter concluded with Rav Ber offering words of hope and strength: “Know that the entire nation of Israel, in all its variety, was with you and feels your pain and upheld the verse ‘I am with you in your pain.’ In every synagogue and study hall, a day did not go by without praying for you. We know that you still have a long way to go for the memories of that difficult time to stop following you. Set your eyes on the future and it will give you encouragement and like a phoenix, you will return to life. The enemy hurt your body but it can’t break your spirit.”
{Matzav.com}