"When the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was announced on Friday, "it was a sigh of relief," but the relief came with confusion because "we've always been saying, we can't start healing until they come home" - and now they have, Beer said. At the exhibit on Monday, "I could really feel the excitement," Beer continued. "We had [the hostage returns] on all the screens here and we were just waiting to see the hugs with the families and the partners and everything.""
"Rabbi Marc Baker, who is also the CEO of Combined Jewish Philanthropies, said at the exhibition's press conference on Monday, "We weren't sure whether this day would ever come." "Here in Greater Boston, in Israel, and across our entire global Jewish family it's hard to put into words the gratitude and joy that we feel that our hostages are finally home where they belong," he said."
"Their return "just made the purpose of this exhibit so much stronger," Beer said. "As a community, we want to be there for [the returned hostages], but we don't know what they went through ... you can't know in what state a person is coming back," Beer said. "It sometimes feels like the whole world will just continue from this moment and move forward, but we are not moving forward yet.""
An exhibition in Boston memorializing victims of the Oct. 7, 2023 Nova Music Festival attack featured artifacts and drew survivors and visitors who celebrated the release of 20 Hamas hostages. Survivors described a mix of relief and confusion after a ceasefire, emphasizing that healing depends on hostages' return. Screens at the exhibit showed the hostage returns and visitors awaited family reunions with excitement. Community leaders expressed gratitude and joy that hostages are back home. Organizers noted the returns strengthened the exhibit's purpose. Survivors cautioned that returned hostages may carry unknown trauma and that communal recovery cannot simply resume immediately.
Read at Boston.com
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