JERUSALEM (RNS) — Once again, Jews in Israel are turning to the rituals and traditions of their faith as they confront an image they hoped to never see: caskets bearing what are believed to be the remains of Shiri Bibas and her young sons, Kfir and Ariel.
Official identification is pending, but Israeli officials believe that the bodies Hamas transferred to Israel on Thursday (Feb. 20) as part of a ceasefire agreement include those of the three Bibas family members. Also returned were the remains of Oded Lifshitz, an 83-year-old peace activist.
Their presumed deaths have shaken the nation but have also unified Jews of different backgrounds.
“Moments like this, of both great tragedy and celebration, remind Jewish people of their shared heritage and their shared destiny,” said Rabbi Seth Farber, founder and director of ITIM: The Jewish Life Information Center, an inclusion-oriented Israeli Jewish advocacy organization. “Despite the differences between Jewish communities around the world, the national moments such as these bind the Jewish community together in an almost inexplicable way.”
Jewish history “is filled with moments that enable the Jewish community around the world to coalesce, and this is one of them,” he said.
Kfir Bibas was 9 months old and Ariel Bibas 4 years old when Hamas stormed Kibbutz Nir Oz in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and abducted the children and their parents from their home. Video footage from the day s …