The call went out over email, text and WhatsApp on Sunday night: Come to Huyler Park in downtown Tenafly at 5 a.m. to celebrate — Edan Alexander was coming home.
Born and raised by Israeli parents in Tenafly, Alexander, 21, joined the Israel Defense Forces after graduating from Tenafly High School. He was taken hostage by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, while serving near the Gaza border, along with 250 others. Now, the United States had negotiated his release, in a move that shocked both Israeli officials and his friends and family in New Jersey.
“Yes, it’s early. And yes, it might be a little cold. But we are strong, united, and our love will warm us all,” said the message, which urged parents to let their children participate in the gathering at the cost of going to school: “Let them experience a morning they’ll remember for life.”
By 5 a.m., the time that initial reports suggested Alexander could be freed by Hamas, which has held him hostage in the Gaza Strip for 584 days, the suburban New Jersey park was packed with friends of his family, members of the local Israeli expat community and hundreds of local residents and officials.
A massive screen and audio system, set up overnight by local companies, broadcast Israel’s Channel 12, where reporters were offering a play-by-play of the preparations for Alexander’s release, the first of any male soldier captured on Oct. 7. At times, the screen showed a broadcast from Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square, where a similar broadcast showed the crowds in Tenafly.
“We almost, like, created a Hostages Square here in Tenafly,” said Orly Chen, a local community member who is from Israel. “And when, God willing, he’s going to come back to Tenafly, there’ll be a really nice and warm welcome here.”
As the sun rose, the crowd thickened. The mayor of Tenafly — whom Chen said had helped to coordinate security — was there, as was Josh Gottheimer, who represents the town in Congress and is running for governor. So was Assi Berman Dayan, a founder of the New York division of the Hostages and Missing Families Forum and a Tenafly resident.
Jewish men offer morning prayers in Tenafly, New Jersey, while awaiting the release in Israel of local son Edan Alexander from Hamas captivity. (Photo by Danielle Elkins)
Local rabbis turned out alongside their congregants, and children came with their parents. Some people brought camp chairs, while many were wrapped in Israeli flags. At one point, men and boys donned prayer shawls and tefillin to offer morning prayers outside Tenafly’s N.J. Transit station. Cafe Angelique, housed in the old train station, opened with its menu that includes Israeli delicacies such as Jerusalem bagels, shakshuka and hummus. And a giant yellow banner reading “Welcome Home Edan” was unfurled.
In Israel, the IDF was preparing to receive Alexander, who marked two birthdays in captivity, in a quiet handover at the Gaza border, without any of the theatrics that Hamas had employed when releasing dozens of hostages earlier this year during a temporary ceasefire. (Hamas fears the United States’ wrath, Saudi media was reporting.) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was emphasizing that any diminished army operations in Gaza were meant only to allow for Alexander’s safe passage. And the families of up to 23 other living hostages were fretting over whether Alexander’s release, as joyous as it would soon be, would reduce U.S. pressure for the war to end and their own children to be freed.
In Tenafly, many families are Israeli or have a strong connection to Israel. The future of the war would matter to them in ways large and small. But for Monday, at least, the focus was only on their local son, who survived the unthinkable and one day in the future would be strong enough to come home, where an entire town would be prepared to embrace him.
“We are so blessed,” Chen said. “We are really so blessed to have such an amazing, amazing community.”
Danielle Elkins contributed reporting from Tenafly.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
