SWAMPSCOTT— A crowd gathered outside of Chabad Lubavitch of the North Shore Sunday morning for a march in support and recognition of the more than 100 Israeli hostages captured as a result of the Israel-Hamas war.
Resident Stephanie Simon organized the event, and emphasized how her focus was on highlighting the hostages above all else.
“This isn’t political,” Simon said. “This isn’t about Israeli government policy. It’s not about Palestinians… with all the craziness going on in the world with the presidential election, violence on campuses, antisemitism, and everything in Gaza, what has sort of been pushed aside are the hostages and their families.”
Chabad Lubavitch founder Rabbi Yossi Lipsker addressed the crowd of approximately 80 people ahead of the march, stating how the cause was not solely for people of Jewish faith and heritage but for all Americans. State Rep. Jenny Armini was in attendance and shared her experience of getting to know the family of Israeli-American hostages.
“The face of a young man in his twenties became the face of my own son, and I became full of grief for that man’s mother,” Armini said. “And selfishly, I became full of grief for myself.”
She alluded to author Elie Wiesel and his use of the phrase “Never Again” in his novel Hostages.
After prayer and music from Rabbi David Meyer, the group began its march through Humphrey Street and back, totaling approximately 3 miles. Upon return, the names of the hostages believed to still be alive were read out loud. Rabbis Michael Ragozin and Michael Schwartz concluded the event with a prayer for the captives in Hebrew.
“Our brothers, the whole house of Israel, who are in trouble and in captivity, who stand between the sea and dry land: May God have mercy upon them and deliver them from confinement to expanse, from darkness to light, from slavery to redemption, now, speedily in our day,” the prayer reads in English.
