There wasn’t a dry eye in the house.

It may seem odd to open a national conference with tears, though less so for the Jewish people, especially after the past two years since the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. This October, however, tears went from sorrow to joy mid-month, when on Oct. 13, the last 20 living Israeli hostages were freed from Gaza following a shaky, U.S.-brokered ceasefire put into place three days beforehand.

These tears were free-flowing a week ago, when more than 2,700 people convened at the Diplomat Hotel in Hollywood, Fla., for the annual conference sponsored by Jewish National Fund-USA, held from Oct. 23 to Oct. 26.

Among the speakers at the opening session last Thursday morning, titled “Circles of Impact,” were released hostage Omer

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