The Lord says: "Restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes

from tears, for your work will be rewarded. They will return from

the land of the enemy. There is hope for your descendants.

Your children will return to their own land."

– Jeremiah 31:16-17

Wednesday afternoon, we received the incredible news of the agreement to bring all the hostages home (now set to be by Monday at 12:00 p.m. Israel time) and to move forward on ending the Hamas-Israel war.

It is hard to believe that last Sunday we held a commemoration ceremony for those lost on October 7. Two days later, we marked two years since Hamas attacked Israel, killing over 1,200 people, taking more than 250 hostages, and starting a horrific war. And now, during the joyous holiday of Sukkot, we celebrate even more as the hostages will return to Israel and a ceasefire is now in place.

We are thinking of the families who have been longing for their loved ones to finally return from their cruel captivity. We wish them a refuah shleimah – a full recovery of body and soul following their horrific ordeal over the past 734 days. And we pray the families of those hostages whose bodies will be returned can find closure as they receive a proper burial in Israel.

This is only phase one. There is still work to be done. However, exiled Hamas chief Khalil Al-Hayya declared the war in Gaza has ended. All of this represents hopeful steps toward resolving the conflict and establishing the conditions for a wider peace in the region and security for Israel.

We commend everyone who worked to turn this moment of promise into a reality -- President Trump and his administration, along with regional mediators, Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey -- and we urge all parties to continue engaging in good faith to bring this conflict to a permanent close.

As much joy as there is in Israel, these are disquieting times in Portland.

I continue to get calls from family and friends from across the country asking about our “war-ravaged” city and the Trump administration's push to deploy the National Guard. I tell them my lived experience in Portland is not how it is being portrayed.

On Tuesday, a Hillel campus display raising awareness for the hostages held in Gaza was vandalized multiple times at Lewis and Clark College. Jewish students approached one of the vandals and were verbally harassed and threatened. We are grateful for Greater Portland Hillel and the school’s immediate response.

To add to this, next week is the 32^nd Annual Northwest Public Employees Diversity Conference. The conference presents a unique opportunity to “cross diverse boundaries for a common purpose of promoting our diversity values of inclusiveness, respectful work environments, equal opportunity for all, and culturally responsive service.” You can read the full conference schedule here.

Here are two sessions that raise concern:

Unpacking Antisemitism and Anti-Palestinian Racism: A Framework for Collective Liberation – Every presenter is a member of the anti-Israel group Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP). No one from mainstream groups focused on antisemitism (JCRC, ADL, AJC, etc.) will be present to balance the panel. (Our chief community relations officer did, however, present the previous two years.)

A City of Portland employee who will be attending the conference shared this with me.

“I do not feel the presentations by Jewish Voice for Peace members will support me as a public servant, nor will it support other mainstream Jews who are living in a world where we may have a lot at stake if we publicly declare that we are Zionists, or even Jewish. I fear they will amplify anti-Zionist and anti-Israel stances while delegitimizing the perceptions, observations and experiences of Jews that don’t subscribe to their perspective.”

Upholding Values: Navigating Ethical and Legal Responsibilities During Global Conflict and Genocide – The presenters are part of the Multnomah County Workers for Peace (MCWP), a collective organizing outside of their roles as government employees towards comprehensive divestment policy in our local communities. “Divestment policy” means Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS), which focuses almost exclusively on Israel. The MCWP works in collaboration with the Portland DSA, Jewish Voice for Peace, and Healthcare Workers for Palestine, all of who have expressed anti-Israel views.

That same city employee shared:

“I anticipate that there will be allegations of apartheid and genocide against Israel and probably calls for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions…The role of government is to serve all of the members of the community without bias. I have Israeli and Jewish colleagues at the city who feel alienated by the anti-Israel activism that occurs around us."

The conference sponsors include local municipal governments. Do they understand how Jewish public employees may feel?

With the hostages coming home and a potential end to the war, will we see/hear less anti-Israel activity? Will we see fewer incidents of antisemitism? I am unsure. Next week I will share with you the sessions currently scheduled for the Northwest Teaching for Social Justice Conference taking place on October 18. Perhaps they will update some of their sessions?

Monday night we will celebrate Shemini Atzeret (when we pray for rain in Israel) and then Simchat Torah (we read the end of the Torah in Deuteronomy and immediately begin again with Genesis). 

As my colleague Solly Kane in Seattle wrote, “As we begin a new year of reading the Torah and retelling our people’s ancient stories of perseverance, we pray that this will be the beginning of a new chapter of the modern story of the Jewish people, Israel, and the region - a story that has the joy we seek when celebrating Simchat Torah.” Amen!

Shabbat shalom and continue to enjoy the Sukkot holiday.