Standing in Huyler Park in Tenafly, a large crowd—donning their Israeli flags, sitting on lawn chairs and blankets, watching the glaring screen with a bright yellow “Welcome home Edan” sign hanging below it—awaited Edan Alexander’s return from captivity.
Alexander (’22), an Israeli-American citizen and soldier in the Golani Brigade of the Israeli Defense Force (IDF), had been held captive since October 7, 2023 for over 580 days. On the day he was taken hostage, he had stayed in his base for Shabbat so that another soldier wouldn’t have to stay there and miss time with family. This decision saved someone else’s life, but put Alexander at risk. The terrorists infiltrated the base, taking him into Gaza, where he was held captive for over 19 months.
Throughout the course of his captivity, videos of him begging for someone to come save him spread across the media. The terrorists forced Alexander to film the clips, as they knew that it would hurt both him and the public. The first video gave the people hope because this was the first time that Alexander was seen alive after 13 months, his status as yet unknown. The second video, released 18 months after his captivity, was hopeful as well, but it also presented a greater fear factor as the hostages’ time was running out.
On Monday, May 12, 2025, at 5:00 a.m., after receiving news of his imminent release, hundreds of people from the Tenafly community and surrounding towns stood in the middle of downtown Tenafly to watch the live release of Alexander. They waited for hours, praying for his safe return. The local Chabbad brought its entire school to watch the event, and Tenafly High School, along with several other schools, excused students from attending classes and issued excused absences for students wanting to watch the release. Israeli flags were waving all across Tenafly, and people’s hearts were racing as slowly but surely the process of bringing Edan home was taking place. Throughout this day, people began planning the celebrations that were going to occur in Tenafly once he finally makes it to his hometown.
“The first thing we are going to do is have a huge celebration, a town-wide celebration,” said the mayor of Tenafly, Mark Zinna. “And we will be thankful for all the people who got him back home. We’re going to be very relieved for the parents and for the family. We will celebrate his return when it happens.”
Signs have already been scheduled for a switch from their ‘Bring Them Home’; several large welcome signs are planned so that everyone passing by Tenafly can see how much the town has missed him. At around 8:00 a.m., it was discovered that the further process for Alexander’s return was going to occur at about 11:00 a.m. Yael Alexander, his mother, was already off the flight from America to Israel, racing over to the helicopter to be transported to see her son. The rest of his family followed shortly after on the later flight and landed just in time to meet him at the hospital. Words cannot describe the way his parents and family were feeling. Nineteen months ago they had lost their light in their lives, and now it had come back to them. In a recent circulating video, he is shown hugging his parents and siblings as tight as they can hold each other after so long apart.
Now, Tenafly and surrounding communities are eagerly waiting for Alexander’s return to America.
