By Matt Golden

A previous photo of Israeli hostage Emily Damari in Hamas’ hands. On Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025, she returned to Israel along with hostages Doron Steinbrecher and Romi Gonen as part of a ceasefire deal. (Screenshot)
When reason fails us, we must embrace the absurdity of hope. As I write this, seven Jewish women have just returned home to Israel after more than 470 days in Hamas captivity. Three were released on Jan. 19: Romi Gonen, Emily Damari, and Doron Steinbrecher. On October 7, 2023, Romi was abducted from the Nova music festival, where 364 people were killed and 40 people were taken hostage. Emily and Doron were kidnapped from Kibbutz Kfar Aza where 62 people were killed and 19 taken hostage.
Then, on Jan. 25, Liri Albag, Daniella Gilboa, Karina Ariev, and Naama Levy, all aged between 19 and 20, were able to come home. All four were abducted from a forward operating base in Naral Oz where they served as new-recruit lookouts.
Like many of you, I feel we know these women personally. I have heard their names read in the streets at October 7 gatherings and memorials; I have read them out loud myself. Their names are emblazoned on banners where I work; ribbons are wrapped around our trees calling for their release. I’ve been to countless briefings about their abduction.
Early on, representatives from the Israeli consulate in Atlanta briefed the Kentucky State Legislature over the October 7 attack and several of us were invited to attend. At the briefing, the Israeli consulate officials shared a video of the abduction of the women at Naral Oz. I remember watching that video of Liri, Daniella, Karina and Naama being taken hostage, lined up against a wall in their bloody pajamas, crying and huddled with their female comrades while Hamas men looked on and preened for the camera.
But there was one abduction that really stood out for me: Naama Levy. Right after October 7, a video surfaced of Naama being dragged by her hair at gun point out of the back of a black jeep. Her hands were bound, her ankles cut, she was shoeless, the back of her sweatpants was covered in blood. Whenever I thought about the hostages over the last year and half, that video of Naama was the first thing to come to mind. I simply could not have fathomed she would still be alive.
And yet, Naama is alive. She and Doren, Emily, Liri, Daniella, Karina and Nomi are now home. When my friend and colleague Sara Wagner said, “as a Jewish mother, to see them coming home, it’s my family coming home,” I understood her completely.
More than 26 more hostages are set to be released over the course of the next several weeks. We know them in the same way, from Kfir Bibas, aged 2, to Shlomo Mansour, age 86. There are phases set for even more to be released if this ceasefire holds. And it has to hold. There is too much at stake.
I watched the ceremony choreographed by Hamas for the hostage turnover. Hamas set up a raised stage in the middle of Palestine Square in Gaza City. As a backdrop for the stage, it erected a 40-foot-long printed banner lambasting Israel and claiming victory over the “Nazi Zionists.” Hundreds of Hamas soldiers were there, in full uniform wearing masks and their “trademark” green headbands. They marched or drove in on clean motorcycles or freshly washed cars.
The women had lanyards around their necks like they were just leaving a convention in the Midwest, not leaving a year and a half of captivity. They were paraded before the crowd of thousands, mostly men, who were whistling and screaming like they were at a political rally. Just before they climbed the stairs to the stage, the hostages were given gift bags which apparently included hats, keychains and certificates memorializing their “stay.” The hostages gave a thumbs up and waved to the crowd and then walked hand-in-hand to a Red Cross vehicle to be taken home.
At one point during the ceremony, an old Palestinian woman walked on the stage with what I can only describe as a white frilly Easter basket filled with glitter bombs which she showered on the Hamas soldiers. The thousands of Gazans standing around on rubble whistled and shouted in celebration as the Hamas army raised their hands in victory.
Clean cars. Gift bags. Glitter bombs. Screen-printed stage backdrops. Hamas was conveying a message of capability. It sickened me to watch the parading of Jewish women like this, turning the last 477 days into a staged photo op over who “won.” Casualty estimates from the Hamas-run health ministry would indicate around 47,000 Palestinians are dead in the conflict. There are wide ranges of estimates as to how many of those were combatants and how many civilians. Much of Gaza is destroyed and Israeli society will never be the same. Rational thought is out the window, there are no winners here.
There is a philosopher that I like, a Jew named Benjamin Fondane, who said, “When reason pushes us into the abyss, it is the absurd that saves us in every instance. . . absurd reality is the only one that has an emergency exit.” Let’s embrace the absurdist’s dream of bringing hostages home.
Matt Golden is Chief Impact and Strategy Officer of the Jewish Federation of Louisville and the Trager Family JCC.