Hamas has just released images of two hostages, Evyatar David and Rom Braslavki, Jewish sons, brothers, fellow human beings, who appear emaciated, starving, broken, their bodies bearing the cruelty of their captors.
Six hundred and sixty-five days of torment. Six hundred and sixty-five days of darkness. Six hundred and sixty-five days of diminishing hope.
Rom Braslavski (left) and Evyatar David. Both men were taken hostage by Hamas on Oct 7, and these photos were just recently released by the terrorists.
They are not just hostages: they are symbols of why we fight, living proof of the barbarity of an enemy that seeks our annihilation, who weaponizes suffering to fracture the soul of the Jewish people. Western leaders may think that the Palestinian Arabs want a state. They do not! They want an anti-state! They want the destruction of the Jewish State.
Evyatar David before Oct 7 (right) and now.
This enemy is not guided by politics, nor restrained by humanity. Hamas thrives on cruelty, turning both Jewish and Gazan lives into pawns in a sick game designed to tear at the fabric of Israel’s existence. They seek to break us, using our compassion as leverage, forcing families to endure endless nightmares, and pushing a society toward despair and internal division.
Rom Braslavki before October 7 (left) and now.
How tragic, how shameful, that while our brothers languish, we fight amongst ourselves. Divisions within Israeli society, within the Diaspora’s Jewish society, today must seem a bitter victory to Hamas, a cruel bonus to their campaign of terror. Our internal fractures dishonour the hostages, weakening our collective spirit precisely when unity is needed most.
This is why I weep and my eyes overflow with tears.
No one is near to comfort me, no one to restore my spirit.
My children are destitute because the enemy has prevailed. (Lamentations)
Tisha B’Av
This Saturday night began Tisha B’Av, the darkest day on the Jewish calendar, marking, among other things, the destruction of both Holy Temples in Jerusalem. These are losses that still ache in our collective memory and hearts. Each Tisha B’Av, we mourn what we have lost, we fast, we reflect. We sit on the floor in mourning and read from the Book of Lamentations (Eichah). This year, like last year, the pain is raw, immediate, and embodied in the hollow cheeks and desperate eyes of Evyatar and Rom. This Tisha B’Av must not merely be historical remembrance but an urgent call to action, a catalyst for unity today.
Fasting is a commandment on Tisha B'Av. It is often hard during these long and hot summer days. But, this year it should be effortless: how can we consider food when Evyatar and Rom starve, imprisoned, suffering beyond imagination? We cannot eat for 25 hours, yet their skin is hanging off their bones. Our hunger on Sunday must sharpen our anger, clarify our resolve, and remind us why we fight. We fight not for land or politics, or for the eradication of another people or state, but for the sanctity of life, for dignity, for the soul of the Jewish nation itself.
Our enemies know well the power of despair and believe our compassion weakens us; that our humanity makes us vulnerable. They misunderstand. Compassion fuels our strength, our righteous anger, our unyielding commitment to bring every hostage home. Our resolve must be unbreakable, our unity unshakable, driven by love for every Jewish life and outrage at every injustice committed against our people.
So let this Tisha B’Av be different.
Let it ignite a fire of unity and determination.
Let us all fast as one, in solidarity with our brothers and sisters held hostage in Gaza’s dungeons. Thank you, Hamas, for releasing these pictures. For showing us that our brothers are alive, however broken, and reminding us how we must come together, as one, in rescue.
We must remember both Evyatar David and Rom Braslavki, and every other hostage, not only in our prayers but in our actions. They are why we fight on. Because every Jewish life matters. Because we refuse to let cruelty triumph. Because our souls, our families, our nation, demand it.
As we read, "For these things do I weep, my eyes flow with tears: Far from me is any comforter who might revive my spirit; My children are forlorn, for the foe has prevailed.” (Eichah, 1:16).
Am Yisrael Chai.
The 50 hostages remaining in Gaza, both dead and alive, are:
Ariel Cunio (27)
Alon Ohel (23)
Eitan Horn (38)
Avinatan Or (31)
Elkana Bohbot (35)
Evyatar David (24)
Bipin Joshi (24)
Ziv Berman (27)
Gali Berman (27)
David Cunio (34)
Eitan Mor (24)
Maxim Herkin (36)
Omri Miran (47)
Bar Abraham Kupershtein (23)
Guy Gilboa-Dalal (23)
Nimrod Cohen (20)
Matan Zangauker (25)
Tamir Nimrodi (20)
Matan Angrest (22)
Segev Kalfon (27)
Rom Braslavski (21)
Yosef-Haim Ohana (24)
Itay Chen (19)
Eliyahu Margalit (75)
Eitan Levi (52)
Sahar Baruch (24)
Ilan Weiss (56)
Joshua Luito Mollel (21)
Tal Haimi (41)
Arie Zalmanowicz (85)
Ran Gvili (24)
Dror Or (48)
Tamir Adar (38)
Ronen Engel (54)
Inbar Hayman (27)
Guy Iluz (26)
Asaf Hamami (41)
Lior Rudaeff (61)
Muhammad Al-Atarash (39)
Meny Godard (73)
Omer Neutra (21)
Yossi Sharabi (53)
Daniel Oz (19)
Daniel Perez (22)
Uriel Baruch (35)
Sontia Ok’Krasari (30)
Sontisek Rintalk (43)
Amiram Cooper (85)
Idan Shtivi (28)
Hadar Goldin (23)
Adam Hummelis a lawyer in Toronto, specializing in immigration law and estates litigation. He is an active member of Toronto's Jewish community, and enjoys reading, running, and spending time with his kids (not necessarily in that order).