* Translated by Janine Muller Sherr
Here is what I said yesterday at an event held for the return of Ran Gvili at his former high school in the Yishuv Meitar:
“Our dear Itzik and Tali, parents of Rani. You have just returned from a meeting in the U.S. with President Trump. It wasn’t you who were blessed to meet Trump - he was blessed to meet you! Whoever meets you is connecting to the right side of history, the side of truth, morality, justice, and Judaism.
I prayed for Rani when I lit Shabbat candles this week. The names of all the other hostages have been removed from the list. Every one of them is either back home or has been given a proper burial in Israel. Only one name remains from October 7 — Ran ben Tali. The entire Jewish world is focused on one person and his mother.
There is an important message here for all of us. Suddenly, of all the names on the list, we are giving honor to one Jew. In this way, we are recognizing that every single person is precious. We weren’t able to give all the hostages the honor they deserved. But now we are hearing Ran’s story all the time: how one police officer ran out to help on the morning of October 7 — even though he was recovering from surgery — and saved hundreds of people before being killed himself near Kibbutz Alumim.
Rani went out to fight absolute evil. It is the same evil that is asserting its power now in Iran against the demonstrators, and which we hope will soon be defeated, as were Sinwar and Nasrallah. We pray that another evil regime — another Jew-hating empire — will be cast into the trash bin of history.
We are beginning to read the Book of Shemot, which tells the story of our redemption from exile. Our sages teach: 'In the merit of righteous women of the generation our ancestors were redeemed from Egypt, and in the merit of righteous women we will be redeemed in the future'. We have discovered so many righteous women in our generation. Tali, I didn’t know you previously, but I’ve heard you speak throughout the world about strength, faith, and unity. You said that you’ve just recently begun to light Shabbat candles. Millions of women are praying for Ran when they light their candles, and now you are joining them.
May you merit to bury Rani in Israel soon, and may all of us merit redemption on all levels".
