One of the parents of the hostages released two weeks ago said that he despises all those who were against the deal and that "an account will be made." Quite a powerful statement, especially considering that statistically speaking, the release of his daughter could likely result in the death of more Jews, G-d forbid. Another parent, month-ago said that she would "burn down the country" to get her daughter back. Others held huge protests, which only emboldened our enemies around the world. One parent has been meeting with the ICC, trying to get Netanyahu and Gallant arrested.
(I'm not one of those who gives such people a free pass because of their situation. At first, when things are raw, fine, but at this point, when their decisions are affecting everybody else … well … they are not above criticism.)
Yet, others took a different route. Last week, one of the mothers, not religious, went on her social media and asked people to keep Shabbos in some way as a merit for her daughter's release. My wife told me that many attacked her for having such a belief. Then it was learned through the released hostages that her daughter as well, while in Hamas captivity, was trying to keep some semblance of Shabbos and kashrus. While everybody is being released on Shabbos … she was released today.
There are others who are asking people to put on tefillin in the merit of their loved ones, or to do chesed, or some other mitzvah. This particular group is never mentioned in the media, but thanks to social media, it gets around.
Many in the media promote the first group, mainly for political reasons. But I'm amazed by the second. Those who, despite everything, prefer to believe that positive action will accomplish far more than decisive ones.
"Speak to the entire congregation of Israel, saying, 'On the tenth of this month each man shall take a lamb for a father's house, a lamb for a household'" (Shemos 12: 3).
The Shabbos that immediately precedes Pesach is called Shabbos HaGadol (the Big Shabbos). Why? Because of the miracle that occurred on the 10th of Nissan, which fell out on Shabbos that year, where the Jewish nation, en masse, took for themselves a lamb which was to be designated to be sacrificed on the eve of Pesach. And given that the Egyptians worshipped the lamb as a god and did nothing against the Jewish people, that Shabbos is commemorated as Shabbos HaGadol.
Given that, there is a very obvious and famous question. Why do we celebrate this miracle on every Shabbos the precedes Pesach? It should be every 10th of Nissan! Just because Shabbos just happened to fall out that year on the 10th … that's enough to make SHABBOS the day of commemoration and not the 10th?
Many answers have been given to this question. Rav Yitzchok Yaakov Weiss (aka the Minchas Yitzchok) gives an interesting one.
The Gemara (Shabbos 118b) writes, "Anybody who keeps Shabbos properly, even if he worshipped idols, is forgiven." The Taz, on his commentary on the Shulchan Oruch (Orach Chaim 242:1) asks on this Gemara, If a person sinned and did not do teshuva, how does keeping Shabbos help him? And if he does do teshuva, he did teshuva and Yom Kippur will erase everything … what does Shabbos have to do with anything? It must be that this Gemara is speaking of sins which result in the punishment of "spiritual excommunication" or the death penalty. Because, as we learned in the Gemara (Yoma 66a), Yom Kippur only puts those particular sins "on hold," while are only forgiven through suffering. If so, our Gemara (in Shabbos) is teaching us that even for such grave sins, if one does teshuva AND keeps Shabbos properly, Shabbos will "override" the suffering he was slated to have, and he will be forgiven completely.
With that, on the first 10th of Nissan, the Jewish nation, which was guilty of idol worship, took that lamb with the intention of sacrificing it. That action was their teshuva for idol worship. They were making a statement that it no longer means anything to them, and that Hashem is G-d. However, they would still need to have some suffering for that teshuva to fully process. But, since that day was Shabbos, and they kept that Shabbos properly, the need for suffering was removed and their teshuva was accepted completely.
And this is why we commemorate this miracle on Shabbos. Because when one keeps Shabbos properly, it has powers to overcome things that normally cannot be overcome. Those grave sins, which normally require suffering to be overturned, can be overturned without suffering: through keeping Shabbos properly.
With that, I wish you all an amazing, and kosher, Shabbos.