A good friend told me that when she heard about the timetable for the hostages’ release on Friday, she decided not to allow Hamas to take away her Shabbat, the way they took away the hostages.

Candle lighting in Jerusalem is at 3:56 (Israel time) on Friday afternoon and the hostages are due to be released four minutes later, at 4:00. By then, my friend said, she will already be disconnected from her digital devices by then.

Yet, at that same moment she will also connect herself to the power of Shabbat — the moment she will light candles and pray for the hostages that are still being held captive.

And we will still need to pray for the returning hostages — body and soul — and for all of us too.

May we all hear an abundance of good news. Shabbat shalom.