The crowd at Paris Square last Saturday night kept getting bigger and bigger, even though a large section of Keren Hayesod Street had been closed to traffic.
People of all ages, from children to senior citizens, could be seen walking toward the square, where people had come both to demonstrate for the return of the hostages being held captive in Gaza, and to sympathize with the families of the hostages who have lived with so much uncertainty and so many false hopes since Oct. 7.
Some of the demonstrators carried large yellow balloons. Others carried national flags or large banners with slogans, or portraits of loved ones who had been abducted by Hamas. Fresh yellow ribbons were tied around area poles.
Radio announcements before and during the demonstration mistakenly repeated that the gathering was being held opposite the Prime Minister’s Residence. The building officially designated as the residence has been unoccupied for almost three years and is indeed around the corner from the demonstration. But it has been gutted, and renovations and repairs that began during the premiership of Naftali Bennett have been abandoned.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu moved his official residence to his private home, more than two blocks away, although he and his wife spend a lot of time in their other Caesarea home.
The former official residence is now seldom under guard, as is the former official residence of the president of the Supreme Court, less than three minutes’ walk away on Balfour Street. This is because Justice Minister Yariv Levin remains intent on reforming the judicial system and refuses to appoint the person who would become president of the Supreme Court, in accordance with the traditional seniority system. But the barriers to traffic in Balfour and the intersecting Smolenskin Street remain.
When Netanyahu lived in the official residence, the streets lining two sides of the house were spotlessly clean. The official banners of Jerusalem lined the length and were changed when damaged by wind or rain. These days, they’re hardly ever changed, and the dirt outside the former official residence is disgusting.
At the Saturday night demonstration, two giant video screens had been placed at either end of the street so that the throng of people could watch the speakers, whose remarks were often punctuated with cries of “Achshav!” (“Now” in Hebrew) from the crowd. Also featured on the screen between speeches was a large yellow heart inscribed in Hebrew with the words “United for them.”
The speakers did not indulge in venting negative comments against the government. Everything was positive, with frequent reminders that they had been laboring in Israel and abroad to bring home their loved ones. They have spoken to various groups, including social media influencers and government leaders, and will keep on doing so.
Most of the families of the hostages did not know each other before Oct. 7, some of them said. They come from different circles – politically Left and Right, religious and secular, Sephardi and Ashkenazi, kibbutz and Tel Aviv, Jewish and non-Jewish – but today they are as one family, responsible for each other.
Dekel and Daniel Lifshitz, whose grandfather Oded Lifshitz is in captivity in Gaza, read a prayer for the safety of soldiers fighting in the war and for the hostages’ well-being. They asked US President Joe Biden “not to relent” in the pressure he is putting on Israel, and various speakers asked Netanyahu, the government, and the war cabinet to do everything possible to reach a repatriation agreement. Police vehicles were visible, but unlike the situation in Tel Aviv, police tried to stay as unobtrusive as possible.
The very fact that so many people were being so considerate of each other sent a powerful message about unity and civilized behavior.
Serving as inspiration
■ WHEN THE president of an educational institution launches a project for excellence, it’s advisable to have examples to serve as an inspiration for the participants.
Prof. Bertold Fridlender, president of Hadassah Academic College, who initiated such a project, had on hand marathon-running champion Girma Amara, who will represent Israel at the 2024 Olympics in Paris; and Moshe Shapira, father of the heroic Aner Shapira.
During the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, Aner was at the Supernova music festival. As he and others sought safety in a shelter, the Hamas terrorists began lobbing grenades at them. Aner was able to catch and throw back seven grenades; however, the last one exploded. Because of his bravery, he saved the lives of those taking cover there. Although Aner himself did not survive, his heroism has become legend in both the Israeli and international media.
His father told the students that his family had met with a high-ranking officer in an elite squad who told them that there was nothing in military history to equal what Aner had done.
Celebrating life-cycle events
■ EMAILS FOR the Hazvi Yisrael congregation are sent every Thursday night with congratulatory messages to congregants who are celebrating life-cycle events in their families.
On average, there’s a kiddush once a month, and this is also announced in the email. But last Saturday, toward the end of the service, a voice from the men’s section congratulated the chairwoman of the congregation on her birthday. The well-wisher was her husband, Larry Wachsman, who must have made a near-to-last-minute decision to host a kiddush on behalf of his wife, Marsha, who was subsequently swamped with toasts and good wishes.
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