After 843 long days, the body of Master Sergeant Ran Gvili, the last remaining hostage in Gaza, has finally returned home. What do we make of this moment? What do we make of this period of time since October 7th that is finally coming to an end?

I found this moment when the soldiers found his body particularly stirring. After such a long time looking for him they burst into singing:

Ani Maamin is one of Rambam’s thirteen articles of faith. The words of go:

אֲנִי מַאֲמִין בֶּאֱמוּנָה שְׁלֵמָה בְּבִיאַת הַמָּשִֽׁיחַ, וְאַף עַל פִּי שֶׁיִּתְמַהְמֵֽהַּ, עִם כָּל זֶה אֲחַכֶּה לּוֹ בְּכָל יוֹם שֶׁיָּבוֹא

I believe with perfect faith in the coming of the Messiah, and, though he tarry, I will wait daily for his coming. – Rambam

It is so interesting that they selected this song to sing. It is an anthem of hope. It seems that we sing this song in the darkest moments to attest to our belief that the light will shine again. Something that always sticks with me when singing this song is, what is the unit of time of the messiah’s tarrying? We have been waiting for thousands of years, but as of yesterday we can say that for part of it the answer is 843 days. Now we can and need to move on to the next chapter of rebuilding Israeli and Palestinian societies.

The image of Ran Gvili’s body being brought back to Israel after all of this time gave me a deeper appreciation for Beshalach, this week’s Torah portion. There amidst all of the chaos of our leaving Egypt in a rush, there is a mission critical side quest in the text. There we read:

Moshe took away Yosef’s bones, for [Yosef] had formally adjured the children of Israel, saying, “God will take charge of you and then you will take away my bones from here.” (Exodus 13:19)

So many other people could have taken out Yosef’s bones, why Moshe? Was he not busy enough? The Gemara asks this question on our Torah portion. There is says:

Moshe merited to be the only person involved in the transportation of Yosef’s bones to be buried in Eretz Yisrael, and there was none among the Jewish people greater than he, as it is stated: “And Moshe took the bones of Yosef with him” (Exodus 13:19). Who had a greater burial than Moshe, as no one involved himself in his burial other than the Omnipresent Himself, as it is stated: “And God buried him in the valley in the land of Moab over against Beth Peor; and no man knows of his sepulcher unto this day” (Deuteronomy 34:6). The mishna comments: Not only with regard to Moshe did the Sages say that God takes part in his burial, but also with regard to all the righteous individuals, as it is stated: “Your righteousness shall go before you and the glory of the Lord shall gather you in” (Isaiah 58:8). ( Sotah 9b)

It was an honor for Moshe to be able to take our Yosef’s bones because Yosef was a righteous individual. It is also interesting in that Moshe had the merit of taking the bones out, but he was not able to complete the task. Moshe was buried by God in the land of Moab. So even though Moshe started off this process, he could not complete it.

All of this came together for me as the soldiers were singing this song as they went to return the bones of Ran Gvili home. Ran was a hero. As his father said, he was the first to go in to save his people and the last to come out. These soldiers had the honor like Moshe did with Yosef to bury the righteous individual. And now as we turn the chapter of this long night of October 7th that has lasted 843 days, we can dream about a brighter tomorrow. In what was does this moment represent the image to Messiah ben Yosef one of the 4 craftsmen of Zachariah. We desperately need this physical redemption of Messiah ben Yosef with the end of this war before we can move onto the spiritual redemption of the Messiah ben David. This is the end of a painful era. I am not sure I really believe in all of this, but the timing and alignment is too much not to share. Can all of this really just be coincidence? And amidst all of this darkness, we all need some light the guide us. We need something to believe in- a hope to find a new way forward.