Nancy Guthrie has been missing for just over two weeks. Her whereabouts are unknown. Her state of health is also unknown. And the emotional state of the country is palpable, even from Israel. People all over the world wait with bated breath for every new detail.
On Feb. 1, 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie, Savannah Guthrie’s mother, was abducted from her home in the early morning hours. Since that fateful moment, nothing publicly verifiable has been heard of Guthrie’s condition beyond a ransom note. The message was cryptic and demanded an apparent staggering sum for her return.
The most troubling complication beyond the abduction itself is that Nancy Guthrie is dependent on a number of life-sustaining medications that she does not have with her. This raises serious concerns about her ability to survive this long without them.
Savannah, the co-anchor of NBC’s Today show, and her siblings have issued repeated heartfelt pleas that seem to have only fallen on deaf ears. Multiple ominous ultimatums have since passed, and the public is unaware of any other contact from the kidnappers.
The most significant piece of evidence is the video footage of the kidnapper collected from the Google security camera. The images show the masked individual attempting to obstruct the camera’s view with various objects from the yard.
Nancy Guthrie's abduction highlights sanctity of life worldwide
According to media reports, the FBI and local law enforcement don’t seem to be coordinating at an optimal level. There is history between Chris Nanos, the Pima County Sheriff, and the FBI’s Assistant Special Agent in Charge, Jon Edwards, that may be contributing to coordination challenges in the investigation.
This case has specific resonance for the Jewish community because we suffered the same angst for the last two years, multiplied by 250.
Israel is a small country. Whenever tragedy strikes, which is unfortunately too often, it touches so many who actually knew the victims or personally identify with them. Judaism isn’t just a religion; it’s a clan, one big family.
We always joke that we’re all related either because of our limited gene pool or because we all stood at Mount Sinai when the Torah was first given.
The impact of 250 individuals held in Hamas dungeons for over 800 days is yet to be fully understood. But the torture didn’t begin there. The return of the final hostage just months ago marked the first time in more than a decade that an Israeli wasn’t held hostage by a terrorist organization.
We longed for the return of our sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, and even our grandparents every day for years on end.
Now that this chapter in Israel’s history has finally come to a close, watching similar events unfold in America leaves us longing for similar outcomes for families like the Guthries. Jewish law dictates that, in most circumstances, we must do all we can to return the captured. That commitment has cost us dearly.
However, there’s another way to view this moral obligation; it defines us as a people who value life. We will stop at nothing to save a single individual. In watching the anguish gripping America, it has reinforced that both countries are cut from the same cloth. The unbreakable relationship between Israel and America stems from this sanctification of life. And it is not our weakness, it’s our greatest strength.
May Nancy Guthrie be returned safely to the waiting arms of her family, and may we all never know such pain again.
The writer is a rabbi, a wedding officiant, and a mohel who performs britot (ritual circumcisions) and conversions in Israel and worldwide. Based in Efrat, Israel, he is the founder of Magen HaBrit, an organization protecting the practice of brit milah and the children who undergo it.