Today marks 612 days since October 7, 2023. It is almost beyond comprehension that 55 of our beloveds are still in captivity. And tomorrow, we will reach an unbearable number: 613. For us as Jews, that number isn’t random—it is the number of mitzvot, the sacred commandments that shape our lives and give our tradition its moral structure.

So before diving into the Torah portion, I need to ask: What mitzvah will you do? What tangible, sacred action will you take in honor of the hostages? What good will you bring into the world because they are not yet home? You can give. You can hold open a door. You can write to your elected leaders. You can gather an interfaith group to learn and to care about each other. You can show up to demand dignity for those who are mistreated here and around the world. You can stand up for trans rights, for immigrants, for every human being whose sacred worth is denied. The pursuit of goodness should always lead us toward one another.

President Lincoln once called on us to reach for the better angels of our nature. Friends, 613 should not be a day we reach. It should not be. But here we are. So I ask you, not tomorrow—today—what good can you do?

Here’s one: Just yesterday, one week after the firebombing of a rally in Boulder dedicated to raising awareness of those 55 still held by terrorists in Gaza, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum gathered in greater strength, in Boulder, in Central Park,........

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