In the lead up to the shacharit Amidah, the final prayer after the Shema describes Hashem’s redemptive powers. Among others, we find the expression Matir asirim, “Who frees captives.”
For American Jews, living in the lap of luxury, or at least security, that expression seems distant, even medieval. After greater reflection, though, it can be seen that captivity and redemption is one of the most common and powerful Jewish experiences of the 20th century. Think of the holocaust survivors coming out of the camps; the Russian Jews coming both literally and figuratively out of the gulag; the Ethiopian Jews freed from a murderous crossfire; the Jews of Yemen, Syria, etc., escaping their second-class dhimmi status in benighted societies; Israeli soldiers like Gilad Shalit.
And now, after Black Sabbath Oct.7, approximately 230 hostages held in Hamas terror tunnels.
We do indeed need to pray to a G-d who is Matir asirim, “Who frees captives.”
In this, we are reflecting classic Jewish law, for which Pidyon shvuyim, the redemption of captives, is a central question. Rabbi David Golinkin points out that the Talmud calls pidyon shvuyim a “mitzvah rabbah,” a great mitzvah, as captivity is viewed as even worse than starvation and death (Bava Batra 8b).
Maimonides writes: “The redeeming of captives takes precedence over supporting the poor or clothing them. There is no greater mitzvah than redeeming captives for the problems of the captive include being hungry, thirsty, unclothed, and they are in danger of their lives too. Ignoring the need to redeem captives goes against these Torah laws: “Do not harden your heart or shut your hand against your needy fellow” (Devarim 15:7); “Do not stand idly by while your neighbor’s blood is shed” (Vayikra 19:16). And misses out on the following mitzvot: “You must surely open your hand to him or her” (Devarim 15:8); “…Love your neighbor as yourself” (Vayikra 19:18); “Rescue those who are drawn to death” (Proverbs 24:11) and “… there is no mitzvah greater than the redeeming of captives.” (Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Matanot Aniyim 8:10-11)
The Shulchan Aruch adds: “Every moment that one delays in freeing captives, in cases where it is possible to expedite their freedom, is considered to be tantamount to murder.” (Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De’ah 252:3).
In the days before the Jewish people regained national sovereignty, the redemption of captives could only be achieved monetarily, i.e., by paying ransom. And this led to a question of “How much is too much?” That is to say, if you pay too high a ransom, you would be encouraging more hostage-taking because it has become lucrative.
Now that Israel has been established, there is, so to speak, “other coin.” Consider how the above-mentioned Gilad Shalit was traded for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners. And a great debate ensued about whether that price was too high. Consider the fact that Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader responsible for Black Sabbath, was one of those 1,027.
Was the price too high?
In any case, now that Jewish national sovereignty has been restored, we can seek to fulfill the mitzvah in other, more concrete and deadly, ways. So when we pray to G-d, matir asirim, perhaps we should be praying to be the means by which Hashem’s will becomes fulfilled. And perhaps now, we can say that the lives of Jewish captives are, truly and literally, priceless.