4 | NOVEMBER 23 • 2023 J
N

PURELY COMMENTARY

essay

Prisoners Cannot Free Themselves
I

’d like to quote a parable from 
our Jewish Talmud: “Rabbi Hiyya 
bar Abba fell ill. Rabbi Yohanan 
came to visit him and said to him: 
Is your suffering dear to you? Do 
you desire to be ill and 
afflicted? Rabbi Hiya 
said to him: I welcome 
neither this suffering 
nor its reward, as one 
who welcomes this 
suffering with love 
is rewarded. Rabbi 
Yohanan said to him: 
Give me your hand and Rabbi Hiyya 
bar Abba did so. Rabbi Yohanan 
stood him up and restored him to 
health. 
“Similarly, Rabbi Yohanan fell ill. 
Rabbi Hanina came to visit him and 
said: Is your suffering dear to you? 
Rabbi Yohanan answered: I welcome 
neither this suffering nor its reward. 
Rabbi Hanina then said to him: Give 
me your hand and Rabbi Yohanan did 
so. Rabbi Hanina stood him up and 
restored him to health.”
Why did Rabbi Yohanan wait for 
Rabbi Hanina to restore him to health 
— since he was able to heal his student 
Rabbi Hiyya? Why did he not stand 
himself up? They say: Prisoners cannot 
free themselves from prison.” 
Many of us are suffering today 
because of the events of Oct. 7, which 
have unleashed such tragedy, hurt, and 
great emotional and mental distress, 
in addition to the real physical injuries 
and death of too many people in Israel 
and Gaza. We are reminded of the 85th 
anniversary of Kristallnacht — the Night 
of the Broken Glass — when the Nazis 
held riots and massacres throughout 
Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia, 
burning 267 synagogues, destroying 
many businesses and homes, killing 91 
Jews and taking 30,000 as prisoners. For 
Jews, it is remembered as the beginning 
of Hitler’s Final Solution whose ultimate 

goal was to eradicate the Jewish people 
from this Earth.
Today we are aware that without the 
joint efforts of the Allied armies, the 
Jewish people may not have survived. 
“Prisoners cannot free themselves from 
prison.”
Probably the most famous prisoner 
in the Bible was Joseph, who was falsely 
imprisoned for years in Egypt until 
a series of events led to his release. 
His dream-interpreting abilities were 
remembered by a former prisoner 
who had been returned to his job as 
Pharaoh’s chief butler, and his skills were 
then needed by Pharaoh himself. 
As we know, Joseph not only became 
Pharaoh’s prime minister, but was able 
to save the Egyptian people and their 
neighbors from death from a terrible 
famine. Of course, we also understand 
that there was Divine intervention here, 
that Joseph’s life was saved and he was 
promoted all because of a Divine plan 
that was not visible to him or others at 
the time of his imprisonment. “Prisoners 

cannot free themselves from prison.”
And today, as the war rages in 
Israel and Gaza, we are painfully 
aware that 240 men, women and 
children — the elderly, the sick, 
the very young — are being held as 
prisoners in underground tunnels by 
the terrorist organization Hamas — 
kidnapped from their homes as they 
were just awakening on Saturday, 
Oct. 7. 
Already a month has passed, and 
the Red Cross has not been able 
to visit them. I cry out and ask for 
your support: Bring the hostages 
home safely! The world must hear 
this message clear and strong from 
those of us who stand for justice 
and peace. And we pray that God 
will also hear our voices and answer 
us with mercy and love. “Prisoners 
cannot free themselves from prison.”
In a metaphorical way, we have all 
become prisoners of this darkness, these 
expressions of hatred, these forces that 
threaten to divide us or arouse fear in 
us. The only way to find the light and 
our way out of this tunnel of darkness 
is to offer each other a hand, to lift each 
other up, to stand in solidarity together 
and speak up for peace. But a peace that 
is real, a peace that means we have each 
other’s back, that we will not stand for 
violence or hate speech against anyone! 
That we can live and work together, 
prospering and enjoying the beautiful 
diversity of our country. And the same 
should go for the people of Israel and 
the people of Gaza. Terrorism will not 
be tolerated here and certainly not there 
— or anywhere in our world! 

Dorit Edit, rabbi at Temple Beth Israel in Bay City, 

gave this speech at a Vigil for Unity and Hope 

on Nov. 9, which was organized together with the 

Saginaw Interfaith Alliance and the Saginaw Islamic 

Center. There were speakers from Islamic, Hindu, 

Jain, Methodist, Lutheran, and Jewish faiths for about 

80 people at the Anderson Educational Enrichment 

Center in Saginaw.

Rabbi Dorit 
Edut

Rabbi Dorit and members of Saginaw Interfaith Alliance 
and Temple Beth Israel of Bay City at Vigil for Unity and 
Hope. 

