Herzog: “I Hope That Next Rosh Hashanah We Will Sit Together”

IFCJ Canada  |  September 26, 2025

For the second year in a row, there were many Israeli households with some empty chairs at their Rosh Hashanah tables. President Isaac Herzog observes this sad reality that has been ongoing since October 7, 2023, but provides some hope as the High Holy Days begun this week. The Times of Israel reports that perhaps next year, everyone, including former hostages, will be seated at the tables.

“There are families who are waiting with agonizing concern for their captive loved ones, there are those wounded physically and mentally who struggle daily with their families to return to life, and there are bereaved families, in whose hearts a void will remain forever,” he writes in a post on X.

“I hope that next Rosh Hashanah we will sit together at the holiday table when all our captive brothers have returned to their homeland,” he says.

During this most sacred time of year, IFCJ Canada observes the High Holy Days with prayers in our hearts for the hostages who are still in captivity, and we pray that next year they will finally rejoin us.