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The end of the war in Gaza is bringing tears of joy — and sorrow. How can we handle it all?
When I heard the news of a deal to return the hostages and end the war, I shed tears of joy and relief. This is a day we have been waiting for literally for years — hundreds of days without hope.
I worried the words of our prayer for the hostages, “they will come to Zion with joy,” would never come true. But now I dare to dream about a return of joy to Simchat Torah, which we hope will mark not only the anniversary of murder and captivity but also a deliverance and return.
But if I am honest, my tears were not only of happiness. I also cried for so much that was lost, for so much pain and suffering, for so many killed in Israel and then in Gaza, for so much healing that still needs to happen.
To make sense of this mix of intense emotions, I found myself going back to a story in my family from hundreds of years ago: the saga of Rabbi Yom Tov Lippman Heller (1579-1654). Known as the Tosafot Yom Tov (after his commentary on the Mishnah), Rabbi Heller was the chief rabbi of Vienna, and later Prague. I am descended from him through my mother’s side; when I was growing up, he was famous in our family for declaring that turkey was not kosher, and asking his descendants to refrain from eating this bird from the New World (I still don’t eat turkey). But I also knew he suffered in his life. With today’s news in mind, I went back to read his story.
In the summer of 1629, Rabbi Heller was arrested on trumped up charges and thrown in jail. As Joseph Davis wrote in his biography of Rabbi Heller, he was only released after others in the Jewish community negotiated on his behalf by committing to pay a heavy financial price. After coming home, he later wrote in his memoir, Rabbi Heller struggled with how to mark his return to freedom. On the one hand he was elated – the day he dreamed of had arrived. It should be a day of celebration and feasting! On the other hand, he owed a massive fine to the authorities. He had no more personal property and he was forced to resign from his rabbinic position.
Confused about how to mark the occasion, he came across a piece of Torah that guided him. In a commentary on the Book of Esther, R. Eliezer Ashkenazi (1512-1585) considered the question: Why was a celebratory feast declared to mark Purim, but not Hanukkah? After all, both are holidays of victory and deliverance from doom. The answer, R. Ashkenazi wrote, was that, unlike the salvation in Purim, where the Jews escaped unscathed, in the battles against the Greeks, many Jews lost their lives; the victory came at a great cost.
Heller read this commentary and decided to mark the day of his freedom from captivity — but to do so by declaring a fast on the Fifth of Tammuz, the date of his arrest, for all of his descendants, forever. He said: “I am still suffering”; he could not fully celebrate. This helped me make sense of how I am feeling now: Amidst all the joy of the return, I am holding grief as well.
There is a second story of Rabbi Heller that also gave me some inspiration in this moment. Years earlier, in 1625, he lived in Vienna during a plague. Hundreds of people of all ages died from sickness. But Rabbi Heller survived. He struggled with how to mark his survival. Should he praise God for performing a personal miracle for him, even though many others had perished? Ultimately Rabbi Heller took inspiration from a story in the Talmud, in which Rabbi Shimon Bar Yohai survives a persecution from the Roman authorities by hiding in a cave. Following his survival, R. Shimon bar Yohai pledged to “mend something”; he proceeded to declare pure a field that was of unknown status.
Rabbi Heller noted that he must be grateful to God for surviving the plague — but the essence of his religious response was not gratitude, but to “mend something.” He instituted additional study of a religious text — the Orhot Hayyim — before daily prayer services, for he felt that the community needed to improve its ethical commitments. He noted that even though they had survived the physical plague, the community had a “spiritual sickness” and needed to be healed.
In this fraught moment – another year of joy mixed with sorrow – I want to recall the moments in our history when we have held these emotions together. Rabbi Heller teaches us that we can feel both of these feelings at the same time. And he also modeled that gratitude must be accompanied by improving our ethical behavior. May we see more joyous days ahead, and may we hold our mixed emotions together while working to grow spiritually and morally.
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Some Tankers Cross Strait of Hormuz Before Shots Fired, Ship-Tracking Data Shows
A satellite image shows the ship movement at the Strait of Hormuz on April 17, 2026, in Space. EUROPEAN UNION/COPERNICUS SENTINEL-2/Handout via REUTERS
More than a dozen tankers, including three sanctioned vessels, passed through the Strait of Hormuz after a 50-day blockade was lifted on Friday, shipping data showed, before Iran reimposed restrictions on Saturday and fired at some vessels.
Reopening the strait is key for Gulf producers to resume full oil and gas supplies to the world, and end what the International Energy Agency has called the worst-ever supply disruption.
US President Donald Trump said on Friday Iran had agreed to open the strait, while Iranian officials said they wanted the US to fully lift its blockade of Iranian tankers.
Western shipping companies cautiously welcomed the announcements but said more clarity was needed, including on the presence of sea mines, before their vessels could transit.
IRAN RESUMES RESTRICTIONS
The ships that passed through the strait on Friday and Saturday via Iranian waters south of Larak island were mainly older, non-Western-owned vessels and included four sanctioned ships, according to ship-tracking data.
Iran arranged passage for a limited number of oil tankers and commercial ships following prior agreements in negotiations, a spokesperson for Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said.
Other ships have been seen approaching the strait and turning back as Iran said it would maintain strict controls as long as the US continues its blockade of Iranian ports.
The UK Navy reported on Saturday that Iranian gunboats fired at some ships attempting to cross the strait.
Some merchant vessels received radio messages from Iran’s navy saying the strait was shut again and that no ships were allowed to pass, shipping sources said on Saturday.
Ship-tracking data showed five vessels loaded with liquefied natural gas from Ras Laffan in Qatar approaching the strait on Saturday morning.
No LNG cargoes have transited the waterway since the US-Israeli war with Iran began on February 28.
Hundreds of ships have been stuck in the Gulf since the conflict started and Tehran closed the strait, forcing Gulf oil and gas producers to sharply cut production.
Top producers such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Iraq and Kuwait say they need steady tanker flows and unrestricted passage through the strait to resume normal export operations.
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Trump Greenlights Russian Oil to Ease Strain on Global Markets After War with Iran
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Washington, DC, US, March 27, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
i24 News – The Trump administration has authorized a 30-day emergency waiver allowing the maritime purchase of Russian oil, reversing a hardline stance in an effort to stabilize skyrocketing global energy prices.
The Treasury Department announced Friday that the license for crude and petroleum products will remain in effect until May 16, 2026, responding to intense pressure from international partners struggling with the fallout of the war with Iran.
This policy pivot comes as a surprise after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggested earlier this week that no further exemptions would be granted:
“As negotiations with Iran accelerate, the administration seeks to ensure oil availability for those who need it most. We must prevent a total price collapse for consumers while the geopolitical situation remains volatile.”
Ensuring global oil availability is paramount for the US as over 80 energy facilities in the Middle East have been damaged by recent war with Iran. With the November midterm elections approaching, record-high fuel prices at the pump remain a primary vulnerability for the Republican party. By allowing Russian oil back into the maritime flow, the administration hopes to neutralize “pain at the pump” before voters head to the polls.
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UK: Islamist Group Claims to Attack Israeli Embassy with ‘Drones Carrying Radioactive, Carcinogenic Materials’
A UK man has been arrested for allegedly threatening a group of Jews while wielding an ax on Rosh Hashanah. Photo: Tony Webster / Wikimedia Commons.
i24 News – British police officers in protective clothing were seen investigating a “security incident” near the Israeli embassy in London on Friday, after a jihadist group put out a video showing it launching two drones allegedly carrying radioactive and carcinogenic materials toward the embassy.
“There is an increased police presence in Kensington Gardens and officers are assessing a number of discarded items. As a precaution, some of the officers who have been deployed are wearing protective clothing. We recognize this may concern local residents and the wider public,” police said in a statement.
“Counter Terrorism Policing London are aware of a video shared online overnight in which a group claims to have targeted the nearby embassy of Israel with drones carrying dangerous substances,” the statement further read. “While we can confirm that the embassy has not been attacked, we are carrying out urgent inquiries to determine the authenticity of the video and to identify any potential link between it and the items discarded in Kensington Gardens.”
The incident comes amid a steep hike in antisemitic attacks in Britain targeting Jewish and Israeli individuals and institutions.
The group that released the video was identified as Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia, a shadowy entity with suspected ties to Iran. It has already claimed seven attacks against Jewish institutions, including an arson attack in London where four ambulances owned by the Hatzolah charity were torched.