Sasha Heller’s Rosh Hashanah Message for 2025

I Could Not Imagine

To the families of the hostages … my heart bleeds for you. I could never fully understand the agony and despair you must have felt over the past 700-plus days, knowing your loved ones are being held hostage in tunnels and you are powerless to save them.

I am an only child, single, and have no children, so the closest person to me is my 79-year-old father. I could not imagine, nor do I want to, what it would feel like if my dad had been taken hostage and held for almost two years.

He wouldn’t be able to spend time with his lovely girlfriend, nor would he be able to take road trips to see his Fourth Quarter Bros. He wouldn’t even be able to watch the news and complain about Trump.

And I would be powerless to save him.

I just want this war to end and the hostages to be returned so their families can feel complete again.

Sasha Heller is the Managing Editor of Atlanta Jewish Times.