"I Know You Are No Longer In Danger."

Top: Almog Sarusi, 25, Alex Lobanov, 32,  Carmel Gat, 40,

Bottom: Ori Danino, 25,  Eden Yerushalmi, 24, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23,

6 hostages executed by Hamas this past week. 

Executed.

At close range.

"The bodies were taken to the National Center of Forensic Medicine, where an examination determined the six had been killed by 'multiple close-range gunshots' within the previous 48 to 72 hours, according to... a spokesperson for Israel’s Health Ministry.                                                          The Washington Post

Hamas has hinted that the hostages were executed because IDF troops were close by.

In a statement, the spokesman for the military wing of Hamas said that following Israel’s successful hostage rescue in Nuseirat in June, new protocols were given to terrorists guarding the abductees that they were to follow should Israeli troops approach.                                                                                       Times of Israel

Let's guess what those new "protocols" are. 

And in case you've forgotten, today is day 333 in Israel.

 Hostages by the numbers

at least what appears to be accurate...no one is completely sure

as of September 2, 2024

251 hostages taken  by Hamas

including some who were already dead.

They took the bodies into Gaza and kept them.

An estimated 97 hostages, including 2 children under 5, remain.

Of those 97, 33 have been declared dead by Israel

64 hostages are believed to still be alive.  

Grief in Israel and throughout the Jewish world is painfully palpable. The streets in Israel are crowded with protesters, demanding the government make a deal for the hostages. Everyone wants an end. Israelis believe, rightfully so, that their government has utterly failed them. It has. It has failed not only Israel, but world Jewry. We are all under attack now no matter where we are. 

Once, we could point a finger at Hamas and blame them. We still can; they started this war and gee, what did they think was gonna happen? But now, Netanyahu and his evil sidekicks must take responsibility for their part in this ongoing debacle and fix it. 

War is expensive....in blood, bodies, economics, and morals. Eventually, someone goes bankrupt. For the sake of Klal Yisrael, it cannot be us. 

Rachel Goldberg Polin, Hersh's mother, speaks poignantly for all Israel in her son's eulogy. 

You should listen to her. 

"Now, I no longer have to worry about you. 

I know you are no longer in danger."

In my heart, I know that could be one of my friends, my family, my neighbors, even me. I could be speaking about my child or grandchild snatched from a music festival, had an arm blown off by a grenade but managed to survive...only to be abused, tortured, and executed at close range.

Just because we are Jews. 

Let's be real clear: this war isn't really about a strip of sand near the Mediterranean; it's about power and money, the Palestinian people be damned. Hamas will never just relinquish their stranglehold on Gaza or the West Bank. They don't give a rat's ass about their own people. They steal their humanitarian aid, their building supplies, their medicine, and their dignity to line their own pockets. For this war to really end, the Palestinians must rise up and throw off their own shackles. Blaming everyone else is not going to help them.

Y'know, when Jews began returning to the land in earnest during the 19th century, they had nothing but the money raised from their own communities. There was no humanitarian aid for malaria or infrastructure support from some NGO. Israel was build with sweat equity. Palestine had similar opportunities that went unused. Why is that the Jews' fault?

The Wifely Person' Tip o'the Week

Tomorrow is Rosh Hodesh Elul.

The shofar will be sounded every morning.

Time to wake up, people.