Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs Statement: A Family in Mourning: A Reflection on the Return of Israeli Hostages

A Family in Mourning: A Reflection on the Return of Israeli Hostages

With broken hearts, we grieve the return of Ariel and Kfir Bibas, and Oded Lifshitz—not in life, but in death. Their captivity was an open wound on our collective soul, and now, their loss deepens our sorrow beyond words. At the same time, we remain anguished over the continued absence of Shiri Bibas, their mother, whose body has not been returned. This act of cruelty prolongs the suffering of her family and our entire people.

There is something especially unbearable about the murder of children. Ariel was four. Kfir was still an infant when he was taken from his mother’s arms. The image of them in captivity haunted us for over 500 days; the reality of their fate is even more horrifying. Shiri, their mother, was just 32—young, full of love, and forced to endure the unimaginable. And Oded, at 83, had already spent a lifetime building and caring for his community, and Gazans, only to be stolen from it in his final years.

As men, fathers, sons, and brothers, we are charged with the sacred duty of protecting those most vulnerable among us. And today, we are forced to face the painful truth—we could not protect, nor bring them home safely. We ask your forgiveness for that failure. It is a grief that sits heavy on our hearts. But this grief must not make us hard. It must not close us off from love, from hope, or from the vision of a world redeemed.

Hamas has once again revealed its true nature—not as a force of resistance, not as a voice for any people’s future, but as a machine of destruction, cruelty, and terror. To murder a mother, her children, and an elder, and to wield their deaths as a tool to taunt us and their surviving father, is inhuman. To steal an elder from his home, to leave his wife Yocheved alone in grief, is a crime against the very fabric of humanity. There is no justification for such brutality. We hold Hamas accountable with unwavering focus.

And our grief does not end here. We also mourn the loss of Shiri’s parents, Margit Shnaider Silberman and Yosef Jose Luis Silberman, whose lives were taken in the attack on October 7th. An entire family, wiped from this world—except for one. Dana Silberman, daughter of Yossi and Margit, sister of Shiri, is now the sole survivor of her family. There are no words to describe the weight of that burden. There is no comfort that can replace what was stolen from her. But we see her, we stand with her, and we will not forget.

Yet even in our mourning, we must remind ourselves: our strength is not in vengeance but in love. Our mission is not just to fight against those who bring darkness, but to build a world where no child—Israeli, Palestinian, or any other—will ever be stolen from their family again. We must hold onto that vision, even when it feels impossibly distant.

Tonight, we hold in our prayers those left behind—Yocheved Lifshitz, who now walks alone after a lifetime with Oded; Yarden Bibas, who has returned from captivity only to grieve the loss of his entire family; and Dana Silberman, who carries a sorrow few can comprehend. We cannot take away their pain, but we can bear witness to it. We can honor their loved ones by living in a way that keeps the light of humanity burning, even in the darkest times.

May the memories of Ariel, Kfir, Oded, Margit, and Yossi be a blessing. May Shiri be returned to her family so they can lay her to rest with dignity. And may we find the strength to build a future where such losses are no longer known.

Shalom u’vracha,
Alan Budman, International President
Rabbi Noam Raucher, Executive Director
The Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs