Birthday Party of a Hostage

One more birthday for Eitan Mor in the bowels of Gaza. I was at his “birthday party” last year. Thought I’d share it again. With prayers and salvation for Jews everywhere.

Yesterday I went to Eitan Mor’s birthday party.

I was in Jerusalem on the light rail, returning from an appointment. I hadn’t been to the Western Wall—the Kotel— in ages, so when we reached Kikar Safra I was contemplating whether to go. Just before the doors swished shut, I jumped up and hurried out into the dry, Jerusalem air.

As I crossed the road towards Yaffa Gate, I found myself in the middle of a crowd of families—more than the usual tourists. I asked someone what was going on, and she told me, “We’re going to celebrate Eitan Mor’s birthday. It’s your lucky day!” (An approximate translation of the Hebrew).

Eitan Mor was taken hostage on October 7th.

Of course they had all the usual paraphernalia—balloons, flags, maybe some treats for the children. It was a festive atmosphere. The only thing missing was the birthday boy. He was busy celebrating in Gaza.

Eitan was a hero. On October 7th he was working as a security guard at the Nova Party. After the missiles began flying overhead, the terrorists reached the party. Eitan and another security guard—who happened to be an Arab—found a ditch where many terrorized young people were able to hide. The two guards made sure that each person was hidden behind a tree or a bush.

When they heard terrorists approaching, the Arab took off his shirt (which said “security” on it) and went up to speak to them. He told them in Arabic that the Jews had gone the other way.  Eitan and the other guard found a woman who had obviously been violated, with all the signs of abuse. They pulled her body down to the ditch to see if she was still alive. She was not. Eitan buried her so that her body would not be taken hostage. After that, everyone ran away, and Eitan was caught and taken to Gaza.

I approached the main plaza in the Jewish Quarter; there were probably 500 people there. Some boys were dancing in a circle and singing. Birthday style, I guess. They were singing “Ivdu et Hashem b’Simcha.” Serve God with joy.

When Zvika Mor and his family found out that Eitan had been taken hostage, they made a decision.

“We are a strong, happy family,” Zvika said in an interview about a month ago. “And there are 7 more at home.” (One of his daughters is married.) “And we understand the role we were given for Am Yisrael, the People of Israel. Also, we were here for the Shalit deal."

In 2011, 1027 prisoners were exchanged for Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier who had been kidnapped five years earlier.

Hamas military leader Ahmed Jabari was quoted in the pan-Arab newspaper Al-Hayat as confirming that the prisoners released under the deal were collectively responsible for the killing of 569 Israelis."(1)

Yahya Sinwar, the brain behind October 7th, was one of those freed prisoners.

Zvika: "We understood immediately what it means…We need to consider the hostages in a way that takes into account the rest of the State and its citizens.”

I watched this interview when I came back from the Kotel that evening. I am in awe of Zvika Mor.

“The natural thing to say would be, ‘I want my son back at any price.’ That is the natural thing to say.”

And then he gives the most exaggerated example he can think of. At any price?

“If they ask for just the triangular-shaped building of Azrielli [not the other two], will we give it to them?” He is speaking of one of the three skyscrapers in Tel Aviv which give the city its character. One is round-shaped, one is a parallelogram, and one is triangular-shaped.

Yes, it would be the natural thing for any mother or father to say, "at any price." Zvika continues.

“But as Jews, we were educated from age zero, that I am not ‘natural’. When I wake up in the morning, I don’t yawn or say, 'what time is it?' I say ‘Modeh Ani’.”

He is referring to the words a Jew says when he opens his eyes in the morning:

I give thanks before You, living and eternal King, for you have returned within me my soul with compassion—abundant is your faithfulness.

"And then," Zvika Mor says, "I start the day with a whole framework that says I am not natural. I make a blessing before I eat…"

A Jew's life is made up of actions which attempt to be above nature. I'm hungry: my natural impulse is to eat right away. But no. A Jew stops, thinks about the gratitude she feels for this red shiny apple, and makes a blessing. For one day a week, on the Sabbath, we cut ourselves off from business, from our material concerns These are not natural human impulses. But Am Yisrael, the People of Israel, are not a product of the natural world. Their whole existence makes no sense.

"We belong to Am Yisrael," says Zvika. "That means, we don’t put the hostages aside, but we get them back by defeating the enemy. With the enemy’s surrender comes the return of the hostages."

I continued on my way down to the Kotel. After awhile Eitan Mor's crowd of supporters came down. How do these people celebrate a birthday?

Well, first of all, there were boards with Eitan's picture on them which said,

Happy Birthday to Eitan, who was kidnapped to Gaza.

I am taking upon myself…

And then people wrote:

To pray for him daily

To do everything for others

To love your neighbor

To honor every person

To try not to speak gossip and slander

To try better to honor my parents

And on and on.

Then we all said Psalms, and we cried and cried and cried.

A few days before, Zvika went to the Karem Shalom crossing. He wanted to bring "Humanitarian aid" to Eitan for his birthday. He said he was going to find one of the trucks and give the “aid” to a driver, to give to Eitan.

"I don't know what he's eating. So I brought him this." Zvika holds up a jar of Nutella, chocolate spread. He is bringing a cake which his wife baked for Eitan.

And his tefillin--his phylacteries—which Eitan hasn't put on since before Sukkot, because on the days of Sukkot we don't put on tefillin.

The day after Sukkot was Simchat Torah, October 7^th.

1. Army Radio newscast, 20 October 2011