Friday marked 700 days of captivity for the 48 hostages still held in Gaza. The stalwarts who stand vigil for the hostages showed up, as usual, that afternoon on a Lafayette overpass to mark the awful milestone.
“We will be here until the last hostage is home,” said Itzhik Goldberger, who co-organized the first vigil held in November 2023 on the Highway 24 overpass.
It was a sunny day, and the affection among participants was palpable. People smiled and hugged each other as they arrived. Some stood next to the banners proclaiming “Kidnapped: Bring Them Home Now” and waved at the stream of cars passing below that honked their horns in solidarity.
Joining the group briefly on Friday was Shelly Shem Tov, the mother of former hostage Omer Shem Tov, who was freed in February as part of a cease-fire deal with Hamas after 505 days in captivity.
Omer and his parents were visiting the Bay Area from Israel as part of a national speaking tour, which included an event the previous night at the Osher Marin JCC organized by the Chabad centers of Marin County. The Shem Tov family also attended the recent Burning Man festival in Nevada and an event there honoring the memory of the hundreds of Nova music festival participants who were killed, injured and/or kidnapped — including Omer — on Oct. 7, 2023.
“Baruch HaShem” (“Blessed be God”), someone shouted to Shelly Shem Tov as she left for Pleasanton to speak at a Chabad of the Tri Valley dinner for Shabbat.
At first held daily and now twice a week on Fridays and Sundays, the Lafayette vigil might be the longest running such demonstration in California, if not the country, said Yoav Harel, another co-organizer.
“We have less hope” than he had a year ago, Harel said, referring to the Israeli government’s plan to take over Gaza City, which many say will threaten the lives of the 20 hostages believed to remain alive. “But that doesn’t change anything. We have to be here.”
Most of the 40 or so demonstrators who showed up Friday were regulars. Over the past 22 months they’ve coalesced into a tight group with specific roles.
Harlev, Goldberger and a few others show up early with the banners, and the Israeli and American flags that festoon the overpass. Odelia Caspi bakes the challahs. There’s always a kiddush during the Friday protests. Natalie Benn brings the pastries — sweet-cheese coffee cakes, fruit tarts and other baked goods she makes herself.
And then there’s the crew from Brit Hadasha, a Messianic congregation in Concord that includes Jews and non-Jews. They, too, show up regularly to lend their support.
“Our congregation has a powerful heart for Israel,” said Galen Peterson, Brit Hadasha’s leader. Noting that he took 37 congregants to Israel in March 2024, he said, “So many people today are eager to curse Israel. We want to bless Israel by standing with Israel.”
Inbal and Adi Lavy, Israeli ex-pats who live in Walnut Creek, were also there, along with their two children, ages 2 and 4.
The family comes fairly often, Inbal said. Since the deadly attack in June on a hostage rally in Boulder, Colorado, she said she’s been “nervous.” Still, she said, it’s important to show up.
“Ever since Oct. 7 we’ve been feeling hopeless, like our hands are tied,” she said. “We can’t really help the hostage families, being here. They are our brothers and sisters. I wish I could be with them in Israel.”
The Colorado rally has stopped announcing its location in advance, for security reasons. And the Lafayette overpass group hires private security, which was very much in evidence.
Like many of those who take part in the vigil, the Lavys know someone who was murdered on Oct. 7. Inbal’s step-cousin, 27-year-old Tamar Gutman, was attending the Nova music festival. Her body wasn’t identified for 28 days, Inbal said, and her family didn’t know what had happened to her. “She could have been taken hostage. We didn’t know,” Inbal said.
“We know it’s hard for people to stop their routine and busy lives, but this is our outlet to show we care about the hostages and the Israeli people,” she said.
“I wish more of our friends would come,” Adi added.
At 5:30 p.m. the group took a break for a Kabbalat Shabbat ritual. Tiny cups of Kedem grape juice were passed out, and Goldberger led the Kiddush, or blessing over the wine.
Then the two challahs were lifted in the air and the Hamotzi prayer was proclaimed. The crowd shouted “Amen,” and Lior Rubin, another longtime regular and friend of Harel and Goldberger, ended the ceremony by saying firmly, “Bring them home, now.”