Noa

When I woke up this morning, my WhatsApp was bursting with messages that all read:

“Noa!!!!”

Yesterday was June 7, ie, eight months since October 7. There was an intensity in the air, given the relentless gloom of the last few weeks in particular. But then I landed in a Persian home for Shabbat and ate many delicious things I have never eaten before, and if I wasn’t fully invested in a Free Iran before, I am now – purely for the ghormeh sabzi. Have you ever tried ghormeh sabzi? Wow. Free Iran, and my waistline.

I digress. This morning, I wasn’t expecting to wake up to messages screaming “Noa!” and to also have a gut suspicion that this was positive screaming. But something in me just knew it was positive. Something had to give. And lo and behold, it was the best possible news we could wish for. Noa Argamani along with three other hostages (Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov, and Shlomi Ziv) had been rescued in an intense day mission by the IDF that morning, and were coming home to Israel to be reunited with their families.

For most of us, one of the most haunting images from October 7 was that of Noa screaming while being stolen away on a motorbike by Hamas militants, while her boyfriend Avinatan Or (still held in captivity) looked on in despair. But here now, eight months later Noa is reunited with her father Yakov, on his birthday - of all days. Noa was also reunited with her mother Liora, who has stage 4 brain cancer, is in critical condition, and whose dying wish was to see her daughter once more. Now that wish is fulfilled.

This is the sight of Israel. Israel: the promise that someone is guaranteed to come and save the Jews.

Can you even begin to imagine the joy of a shower and a cold Coca Cola.

The rescue mission has been described as one of the most complex in history and took place in Nuseirat, a location at which Hamas are based, with the assistance of US Intelligence. Nuseirat is not an area that has been cleared yet. The IDF and Shin Bet raided two homes. One Palestinian civilian home was where Noa Argamani was held. The other three hostages were in the second home together and intense gun fire broke out there, killing IDF soldier and war hero Arnon Zamora. Both places were raided together due to their proximity and a fear that Hamas would kill hostages once they discovered that a rescue mission was taking place. Hamas shot at the extraction vehicle as the freed hostages were being driven to a helipad. Due to the amount of RPGs and gunfire targeting the rescue mission, the Israeli Air Force carried out major strikes in the area to ensure the safe passage of the hostages and the rescue team. The IDF has taken responsibility for civilian lives lost. And while innocent civilian lives lost is a tragedy of war, the responsibility lies squarely on Hamas, who guarded and held hostages in civilian areas, and paid Palestinian civilians to keep innocent Israelis kidnapped in their homes.

Noa, , Almog, Andrey, and Shlomi were all taken from the Nova festival. Today they were reunited with their families and their homeland.

With the great news, however, also came a horrible twist. Almog (above) unfortunately didn’t make it in time to be reunited with his father, who passed away 20 hours before his son’s release. The IDF found his father Yosi dead in his apartment when they went to tell him his son had been rescued. His funeral is tomorrow.

There is no question as to the degree of the agony and the ecstasy of such days in the Jewish homeland and for all Jews in the Diaspora. There are over 100 hostages remaining in Gaza, and we must bring them all home to similar scenes of joy, disbelief and hope. Today’s desperate elation feels nothing short of miraculous.

Of course, Sky News, CNN, the BBC etc, came out with their bananas headlines, packed with Hamas narrative. I think we can take a day off from dwelling on the bad stuff. Recently a devout Catholic friend of mine sent me a passage from Isaiah that she said reminded her of me:

No weapon that is fashioned against you shall prosper,

And you shall confute every tongue that rises against you in judgment

This rescue mission happened because you’ve all been screaming for eight months. We wouldn’t be here without the strength and the voice of our tiny people.

Here is a video from Tel Aviv this morning as the lifeguard announced the news to the beach. If I could order a round of ghormeh sabzi for everyone involved, I would!

Am yisrael chai.