Israel’s chief rabbis to announce national fast day for hostages

Israeli President Herzog stressed the urgent need for spiritual and practical action.

By JNS

Israel’s Sephardic Chief Rabbi David Yosef announced on Tuesday that a national day of fasting in prayer for the hostages in the Gaza Strip would be announced “in the coming days.”

The announcement came in response to a call for such a move by Israeli President Isaac Herzog.

At the swearing-in of 28 new rabbinical judges at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem on Tuesday, Herzog stressed the urgent need for spiritual and practical action, noting the “unrelenting stream of questions flowing from the battlefield” and the responsibility of rabbis to serve all segments of society.

“Do everything in your power—first and foremost, to declare a general day of fasting and prayer for our brothers and sisters held by murderers,” he said.

Terrorists in Gaza currently hold 55 hostages—both alive and deceased—54 of the 251 kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre, and the remains of IDF Lt. Hadar Goldin, killed in action in the Strip in 2014.