This week marks a profound moment in Israeli history. Our last hostage has returned home from Gaza. After 842 days of anguish, after the return of bodies, after countless rescue operations and negotiations, after Hamas failed to honor their commitments—the final Israeli has come home. For the first time since 2014, there are no Israeli hostages held in Gaza.
But I want to tell you about something else that happened this week. Something you probably won’t see on the international news. Something small, seemingly trivial, yet deeply revealing about who we are as a people.
The Guinness World Records Returns
The Guinness World Records organization has resumed operations in Israel.
Yes, that Guinness World Records—the registry of the fastest, the strongest, the most unusual human achievements. The largest collection of Coca-Cola memorabilia. The person who can juggle seventeen knives. Records that tell us little about humanity except that someone, somewhere, took something very, very seriously. During the past year of war, Guinness joined the chorus of boycotts against Israel. Along with Eurovision, soccer federations, and theatrical productions, they chose to stay away. It wasn’t surprising. And frankly, the Guinness World Records ranked low on our list of concerns.
Why They Came Back
What changed their mind was an event that took place in Israel this week: 2,000 people gathered in the largest assembly of living kidney donors ever recorded.
Two thousand human beings who made the extraordinary decision to literally put their lives on the line—not in the heat of battle, not under orders, but through the deliberate choice to give part of their own body to save a stranger.
Israel has the highest rate of living kidney donation per capita in the world. By a huge margin.
And here’s something you might not know: more than 90% of these donors are religious Zionists, many of them residents of Samaria.
The Connection
You might wonder what connects a kidney donor to a soldier entering Gaza to rescue hostages.
The physical risk is similar—perhaps the medical risk to a living donor is even greater than what many soldiers face. But the motivation behind both actions is identical.
It’s a response to the ancient question posed in Genesis, the question Cain asked after murdering his brother Abel: “Am I my brother’s keeper?”
The Jewish answer, the Israeli answer, is an unequivocal yes.
What Makes Israel Different
Patriotism exists everywhere. Strong nations exist around the world. But the sense of brotherhood in this small nation is something unfamiliar in any other culture.
The understanding that you can knock on any door, anywhere in the world, and if a fellow Jew is there, they will help you. The knowledge that someone is willing to die for you—or give you their kidney. This is one of the unique qualities of the people of Israel. It is our strength. It is, often, our advantage.
What Broke on October 7th
After October 7th, something in this mechanism broke. We could not continue believing we were whole while our brothers and sisters were held captive. Many brothers and sisters were taken from us. For 842 days, we have been incomplete.
And now, thank God, they are all back.
For many of us, today feels like we are continuing from where we stopped. October 7th ended, and now it is October 8th—a new time, a new era for the people of Israel.
We don’t fool ourselves into thinking there won’t be problems ahead. We don’t pretend the challenges have ended. But finally, we can say: all the organs are back in place. There is a full body again. A full nation of Israel. All our boys are back home.
I want to thank Sondra for many years of writing this newsletter. We are all your students.
Shmuel Junger
January 27, 2026