ROCHESTER, Minn. - The Jewish community is reflecting on a day filled with mixed emotions as hostages taken by Hamas from Israel more than two years ago were released. While some families were joyfully reunited, others learned the fates of their lost loved ones. The emotional day resonated deeply within the Jewish community worldwide.

The timing of the hostages' release has left some feeling it was almost calculated, coinciding with Simchat Torah, a significant Jewish celebration marking the end of the Torah reading cycle. This holiday, now forever tinged with grief, will be remembered differently.

"To take what was supposed to have been the most joyous holiday, it's the end of a holy day season, we're marking the beginning and all that. To have been attacked on that day was clearly not

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