Rabbi Weill's Blog

February 20, 2025

Dear Friends,

Today Israel received four bodies from Gaza. It is likely that three of them are the bodies of Shiri Bibas and her precious children, Ariel and Kfir, nine months old and four years old at the time of Hamas's terrorist onslaught on October 7. Husband and father Yarden Bibas was released alive two weeks ago. 

Somber citizens holding Israeli flags lined the streets as the convoy carrying those three bodies, and the body of Oded Lifshitz, 84, drove to a forensics center. Mr. Lifshitz, according to the Jerusalem Post, helped found Kibbutz Nir Oz and was a lifelong peacenik and advocate for Palestinian rights. 

October 7 was the worst day for the Jewish people since the Shoah/Holocaust. 

This year marks 80 years since the end of the Shoah. EHNT's Kristallnacht/Yom ha'Shoah committee is planning a synagogue program, but we also encourage you to register for the April 24 event at the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center. This year, especially, it will be important for the broader Jewish community and our supporters to stand together on Yom ha'Shoah. Please register by using the link below.

Am Yisrael Chai. 

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Jeffrey Weill