Photo — Clockwise: Eitan Mor with his parents; Omri Miran with his wife and father; Alon Ohel with his family; Gali and Ziv Berman in Maccabi Tel Aviv kits. (via Amit Segal / It’s Noon in Israel)

UPDATE: Oct. 13, 2025

This morning, we exhale with joy and relief as 20 living hostages have at last returned home. Their resilience—and the steadfast love of their families—has sustained the entire Jewish people through unthinkable pain.

Even in this joy, our hearts ache for those hostages who were murdered and still await return. We expect that the United States and Israel are using all their power to bring their bodies home without delay.

Oct. 9, 2025

The Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas Enthusiastically Welcomes Agreement to Secure the Release of Our Hostages

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יי אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, מַתִּיר אֲסוּרִים
Blessed are You, Adonai our God, Ruler of the Universe, Who frees the captive

The Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas enthusiastically celebrates the agreement to secure the release of the Israeli hostages cruelly held in Gaza, and the advancement of a deal to end the war that Hamas launched with its brutal assault on Israeli border communities 734 days ago.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog spoke not just for Israelis, but for the entire Jewish people, when he proclaimed: “At this hour, all of Israel stands with the hostages. All of Israel stands with their families.” As we count the minutes until our captives are free our hearts are full of both hope and anxiety that this agreement is fulfilled.

In Judaism, there is no greater mitzvah than the redemption of captives, and prayers for their release are central to our most sacred texts and traditions. Consistent with this commandment, Jews from Tel Aviv to the Twin Cities have marched for two years demanding their release. We have implored our governments—from Jerusalem to Washington, D.C.—to prioritize their safe return. And we have never lost hope that all our hostages, both the living and the dead, would one day be restored to the loving embrace of their families.

We are grateful to President Donald Trump and his administration for their leadership, which has been essential in reaching this critical achievement. We are also thankful to members of Congress and elected officials from both parties, who never forgot how this war began or why it could not end until all the hostages were released.

Though we are fully cognizant that the days and weeks ahead will be difficult and that many critically important details remain to be worked out, today we are profoundly grateful: that barring any last-minute changes at long last our hostages are coming home; that the people of Gaza may have a chance to rebuild their lives free from Hamas’ tyranny; and that our brothers and sisters in Israel, including the brave members of the Israel Defense Forces, may finally begin to resume living their lives in relative peace.

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As the consensus public affairs voice of the Jewish community, JCRC builds relationships to fight antisemitism and bigotry; educates about Judaism, Israel, antisemitism, and the Holocaust; advocates for Jewish values and priorities; and safeguards our community.