“It’s an out of body experience, it’s very exciting, we couldn’t sleep all night,” Adi Alexander, Edan’s mom, said in a phone interview today. “I saw the picture, he’s handsome, standing on his feet. That’s what’s important… He’s a little pale, thin, but a tall boy. This is my boy.”
"Believe in Miracles": The Emotional Homecoming of Edan Alexander
Do miracles exist? I have wondered if they do. The release of Edan Alexander - after 584 days in captivity - affirms for me that they do. Edan comes from Tenafly, a town just 15 minutes from where I live in Teaneck.
On the way to our JCC in Tenafly, there is a large banner of his boyish face full of promise and happiness. He was just a regular American-Israeli 18 year old with the world before him. He enlisted in the Israel Defense Forces. He was then taken hostage on October 7, 2023. Of course more recent photos of him show he has aged many years in the captivity of the hell that Hamas inflicted on him.
The release of Edan Alexander, the last live American hostage held in Gaza, is not just a headline — it is a miracle that landed close to home. That large banner is still hanging. It’s hard to describe the feeling of seeing that image — familiar, vulnerable, and proud — it carries the weight of survival, of resilience, and of an entire Jewish/Israeli community's prayer answered.
Edan Alexander was more than a name in the news to those of us in North Jersey. He was one of our own — a young man who walked streets we know, who likely sat in the same cafes, and was at our JCC. When he was taken hostage on October 7th, the shock reverberated through Jewish communities around the world. His captivity became a symbol of all that was lost — safety, certainty, and innocence.
For months, families, strangers, and synagogues prayed. I attended a vigil more than once. Lawn signs went up. Every Friday morning there has been a march through Tenafly to demand that Edan and the other hostages be released.
We whispered “Believe in miracles” because sometimes that’s all we had. And when the news broke hours ago that Edan had been released, it felt like the world held its breath — and then exhaled with relief and joy. I had tears in my eyes.
It’s not every day that world events touch so personally. But when someone like Edan is involved, someone who lived nearby, it no longer feels far away in Israel, it becomes heartbreak on our doorstep, and now, hope waving on a banner above our heads.
For the last many hours from early in the morning, I watched Israeli TV chronicling each moment in the steps of Edan gaining his freedom.
Seeing that banner in Tenafly today, it's impossible not to get emotional. His face — youthful, strong, alive — reminds us that even in the darkest hours, miracles do happen. The unimaginable pain endured by his family, and their unbreakable hope, stands as a testament to the power of faith and community. His return is not just a rescue; it’s a reaffirmation of hope, a moment that reminds us why as Jews we cannot ever give up.
We must fight for the release of the other 58 hostages and we must do so everyday. But for now we can rejoice that Edan Alexander is home. And, for now, so are our hearts.
