This week, as we read Parshas Beshalach, a painful chapter in our national story reached a solemn conclusion. The last of more than two hundred hostages was returned to Israel for Jewish burial. For months, the entire nation had prayed for his return. When life could no longer be restored, Klal Yisrael prayed at least for dignity — that he not remain abandoned, that he be brought home to rest among his people.

The man who was returned, Ran Gvili, was not only a victim of terror. He was a hero. During the Hamas attack, he risked his life and saved many others. He acted with courage and mesirus nefesh, and paid the ultimate price. When his body was returned, it was found complete, still in his military uniform. Even in death, he returned as a soldier of Israel.

This detail is not incidental. A uniform represents responsibility, loyalty, and dedication. It testifies to how he lived and what he stood for. His return was not merely a logistical achievement; it was a moral statement: no Jew, and certainly no hero of Israel, is left behind.

Parshas Beshalach teaches a timeless lesson in this regard. As Klal Yisrael finally left Egypt, surrounded by miracles and moving toward freedom, the Torah records a seemingly unexpected detail: “Moshe took with him the bones of Yosef.” Yosef had made the Jewish people swear that when redemption would come, they would not leave Egypt without him.

Why was this so essential? Egypt was behind them. The future lay ahead. Yet Moshe........

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