B'nai-Sholom rallies for the safe return of Israeli hostages after 100 days in captivity

Stretching down the entrance of Congregation B’nai Sholom-Beth David are two rows of empty chairs, a face staring out of a “missing” flyer on each, representing a hostage taken by Hamas.

Monday marked 100 days since they were captured in the terrorist group’s attack on Oct. 7. Their loved ones around the world, and in Rockville Centre, are growing increasingly desperate.

“We shouldn’t be here today,” Ira Salwen, chairman of the synagogue’s board of trustees, said at a gathering on Sunday. “That’s because they shouldn’t be there today.”

“Despite tireless campaigning by the families,” Nancy Hochhauser, the congregation’s president, said, “a sense that time is passing while world attention shifts elsewhere has deepened their anguish as hopes have faded for a deal to secure the hostages.”

Dozens gathered in the synagogue on Sunday to acknowledge the passage of 100 days. In addition to killing around 1,200 people on Oct. 7, Hamas abducted more than 200, and 136 remain in captivity. “We want to send a message to our brothers and sisters in Israel that we stand with you, and will continue to stand firm for as long as it takes,” Rabbi David Lerner said. “And we will keep praying, and engaging our politicians to aid in resolving this crisis as soon as possible.”

One of the hostages is Omar Neutra, 22, of Plainview.

“Omar is our brother and was taken,” Lira Lerner, whose son Charlie is friends with Omar, said. “Charlie likes to say that Omar made even the most boring day in high school interesting with his spirit, his life, his humor.”

Omar was the captain of several sports teams at Schechter  School of Long Island in Williston Park, Lerner said, and was the president of his local chapter of United Synagogue Youth. He was always the first person to greet a new member of USY, she said, and he embodied the Jewish value of "hachnasat orchim" — making visitors feel welcome.

Omar, a soldier in the Israel Defense Forces, was taken after his unit was overwhelmed at the border on Oct. 7, Lerner said. There has been no word from him since. “I don’t know about you, but when my kids were little, my biggest fear was that they would be taken from me,” she said. “And now can you imagine your child is taken during a cease-fire, a peacetime, by the most barbarous terrorist group on the planet? And even the Red Cross and the U.N. claim they can’t do anything?”

It seems, Salwen said, that the world is caring less and less about the hostages’ safe return. “We see it on the news, we read it in the papers, and it’s something that’s happening out in the world,” he said. “It needs to be personal. This can’t be something that just washes over us in the flood of the events of the day.”

The world’s attitude toward not only the captives, but Israel itself, Salwen added, has shifted in a concerning way.

“The image of Israel as a valiant David fighting for survival was transformed into an oppressive Goliath occupying Arab lands,” he said, “drawing an equivalency between the attacker and the victim.”

“Many people are spreading anti-Israel and antisemitic propaganda, manipulating the facts to suit their own narrative,” Lerner said. “For example, when you see words like ‘freedom fighters’ or ‘militants,’ you know where this person stands. Hamas is a terrorist group. There’s no other word for it.”

The synagogue’s leadership encouraged those who gathered to donate to Israel, to interact with pro-Israel messages online to encourage social media algorithms to spread them, and to continue to urge local and state representatives to voice support for the hostages’ return.

Then Salwen raised a roll of masking tape, ripped off a piece, wrote “100” on it and stuck it on his lapel. He said he planned to wear a piece of tape marking the number of days it has been since the hostages were taken, and he hoped others would join him.

“Hopefully you won’t use much tape,” Salwen said. “Hopefully that day will come soon. But until it does, wear the number every day.”

The congregants joined in song and prayer for the hostages to return home safely as soon as possible. “It is heartwarming to see how much support we continue to garner in our local community and beyond,” Rabbi Lerner said. “And know that we will never give up this fight until each and every one of the hostages are free and safely back with their families, and the evil that is Hamas is utterly destroyed from the face of the earth.”

“We won’t stop, and we won’t stand back until every one returns home,” Hochhauser said. “Every one, every one, every one.”