The Joy of This Moment is Powerful
Hadar Susskind — October 13, 2025
October 7th, 2023. I woke up to one of the most painful and heart wrenching days in my life. The shock, horror, sadness, fear, and anger were overwhelming as I called family and friends trying to make sure that everyone was safe.
Today, just more than two years later, the day once again started with tears. Only this time, they were tears of joy.
After countless rallies and protests both in Israel and here in the United States, after two years of prayers, of empty chairs, of speeches, and Congressional meetings, and sorrowful hugs, and words of comfort – finally! – that chapter has closed and a better one can start to be written.
Early this morning, the hostages came home. My heart is full of happiness watching Einat hold Matan in her arms, seeing Arbel and Ariel reunited, and witnessing the pure joy of this moment. If you’re reading this anywhere other than in Israel, then I’m willing to bet that, like me, you wish you were there right now to be a part of this historic, national, communal event.
It is important for all of us, particularly after what we as a community have been through these past two years, to embrace the joy. To let the tears flow and take some of the sadness, some of the stress, some of the trauma with them.
For me, and I’m sure for many of you, the joy of this moment is powerful. But it is also tempered by the memories of those who did not come alive, those who were killed in their homes on October 7th, and the innocent Palestinians who were killed in Gaza.
We would not have gotten to this moment, the fighting stopped, the hostages coming home, and aid being surged into Gaza, without the work of so many people and organizations. And now we all must take a deep breath and recommit ourselves to the work that remains to be done. For today’s victory – and it is a victory that should be celebrated – is the middle and not the end.
We cannot and must not allow regressive forces in the region, whether they are Palestinian or Israeli, to undermine this agreement. We cannot be satisfied with a return to the status quo of years past. We cannot allow our American government, without whom this agreement would not have happened, to be satisfied with only the implementation of phase one.
Now is when we must all raise our voices and demand a better future. Whether we do so in English, in Hebrew, or in Arabic, we must all say loudly and clearly: Enough violence! Enough killing! Enough hatred! Enough Occupation!
There is no easy path ahead. But we cannot allow any of the leaders to take the path of least resistance. We must demand that they blaze a new trail.
Today, this very moment, has the potential to be a turning point in history. October 13th, 2025 can be the day that Israelis and Palestinians, and the Americans who care about them, declare that we will no longer support a politics of fear and division. We will no longer stand with those who think that their people win when the other side loses.
Today, we rejoice. Today. we demand a better future. Today, we stand together.
