From the Liveblog of
Friday, January 10, 2025
Brother of Nova massacre victim says country must ‘fight to bring the hostages home’
Jessica Steinberg, The Times of Israel's culture and lifestyles editor, covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center
As the names of each hostage are read aloud at Jerusalem’s Jaffa Gate, some people call “Amen!” after each name.
Roy Baruch, the brother of Uriel Baruch, whose body was abducted to Gaza after he was killed trying to escape the Nova festival, speaks about his beliefs.
He refers to the need to learn from the destruction of the First Temple due to fissures among the ancient Israelites which is commemorated today — the tenth day of the Hebrew month of Tevet — by religious Jews as a fast day.
“The hostage families are part of all of us, their pain is ours and their cries are ours,” says Baruch. “This fast day reminds us of an important lesson. We have to fight to bring the hostages home. Let’s pray for what was and what should be.”
At the end of the rally, the audience is asked to stop and think about one hostage and where they might be at this moment, and to turn to someone they don’t know to tell them who and what they thought about.
