Redeeming Captives

(10) Some lived in deepest darkness,
bound in cruel irons,

(13) In their adversity they cried to the LORD,
and He rescued them from their troubles. (14) He brought them out of deepest darkness,
broke their bonds asunder. (15) Let them praise the LORD for His steadfast love,
His wondrous deeds for mankind; (16) for He shattered gates of bronze,
He broke their iron bars.

(1) May the One who blessed Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Aaron, David and Solomon bless, watch and guard those missing from the Israel Defense Forces and the captives,

(3) Guy ben Rina Chaver,

(4) Ron ben Batya Arad,

(5) Yekutiel Yehudah Nachman ben Sarah Katz

(6) and Tzvi ben Peninah Feldman,

(8) among others of our brethren of the House of Israel that are situated in distress and in captivity. On account of the congregation's praying for them, may the Holy One, blessed be He, grant mercy upon them, take them out from darkness and gloom, break their chains, redeem them from their ordeals and return them quickly to the comfort of their families. "Let them praise the Lord for His kindness, and His wondrous deeds for the children of man" (Psalms 107:8). And through them, let the verse (Isaiah 35:10) be fulfilled, "And the Lord’s ransomed shall return, and come with shouting to Zion, crowned with joy everlasting; they shall attain joy and gladness, while sorrow and sighing flee." And let us say, Amen!

Rava said to Rabba bar Mari: Concerning this matter that the Sages stated, that redeeming captives is a great mitzva, from where is it derived? Rabba bar Mari said to him: As it is written:

“And it shall come to pass, when they say to you: To where shall we depart? Then you shall tell them: So says the Lord: Such as are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for famine, to famine; and such as are for captivity, to captivity” (Jeremiah 15:2).

And Rabbi Yoḥanan says: Whichever punishment is written later in this verse is more severe than the one before it. Rabbi Yoḥanan explains: The sword is worse than death. If you wish, say that this is learned from a verse; if you wish, say instead that it is derived by way of logical reasoning. If you wish, say that this is derived by way of logical reasoning: This punishment, i.e., death by sword, mutilates the body, but that punishment, i.e., natural death, does not mutilate it. And if you wish, say that the fact that the sword is worse than death is learned from a verse: “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His pious ones” (Psalms 116:15). Famine is worse than the sword. If you wish, say that this is derived by way of logical reasoning: This one, who dies of famine, suffers greatly before departing from this world, but that one, who dies by the sword, does not suffer. If you wish, say instead that the fact that famine is worse than the sword is learned from a verse: “More fortunate were the victims of the sword than the victims of famine” (Lamentations 4:9). And captivity is worse than all of them, as it includes all of them, i.e., famine, the sword, and death.

NJPS takes כמות to refer to "plague":

(20) See, O LORD, the distress I am in!
My heart is in anguish,
I know how wrong I was-e
To disobey.
Outside the sword deals death;
Indoors, the plague.

(15) The sword is outside and pestilence and famine are inside; those in the field shall die by the sword, those in the town shall be devoured by famine and pestilence.

Were our mouth as full of song as the sea, and our tongue as full of joyous song as its multitude of waves, and our lips as full of praise as the breadth of the heavens, and our eyes as sparkling as the sun and the moon, and our hands as outspread as the eagles of the sky and our feet as swift as deers - we still could not thank You sufficiently, Lord our God and God of our ancestors, and to bless Your Name for one thousandth of the thousand of thousands of thousands, and myriad myriads, of goodnesses that You performed for our ancestors and for us. From Egypt, Lord our God, did you redeem us and from the house of slaves you restored us. In famine You nourished us, and in plenty you sustained us. From the sword you saved us, and from plague you spared us; and from severe and enduring diseases you delivered us.

(10) The redemption of captives receives priority over sustaining the poor and providing them with clothing. [Indeed,] there is no greater mitzvah than the redemption of captives.30For as the Rambam continues to explain, all of the different aspects of charitable gifts are included in the redemption of captives (Bava Batra 8b). For a captive is among those who are hungry, thirsty, and unclothed and he is in mortal peril.31For at any time, his captors may take his life. If someone pays no attention to his redemption, he violates the negative commandments: "Do not harden your heart or close your hand" (Deuteronomy 15:7 , "Do not stand by when the blood of your neighbor is in danger" (Leviticus 19:16 , and "He shall not oppress him with exhausting work in your presence" (ibid. 25:53). And he has negated the observance of the positive commandments: "You shall certainly open up your hand to him" (Deuteronomy 15:8 , "And your brother shall live with you" (ibid. 19:18), "Love your neighbor as yourself" (Leviticus 19:18 , "Save those who are taken for death" (Proverbs 24:11 , and many other decrees of this nature. There is no mitzvah as great as the redemption of captives.

(6)...The captives are not redeemed for more than their actual monetary value, for the betterment of the world; and one may not aid the captives in their attempt to escape from their captors for the betterment of the world, so that kidnappers will not be more restrictive with their captives to prevent them from escaping. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: For the betterment of the captives, so that kidnappers will not avenge the escape of the captives by treating other captives with cruelty. ...

Every moment that one delays unnecessarily the ransoming of a captive, it is as if he were to shed blood. Captives are not to be ransomed at an unreasonable cost, for the safety of society; otherwise, the enemies would exert every effort to capture victims. But a man may ransom himself at any price. So also, a scholar should be ransomed at a greater price, or even a student who gives promise of becoming a great scholar. (As to whether one's wife is considered "another" or "one's self," see Eben Ha-Ezer, 78.)

Solidarity (`Arvut Hadadit): Should one submit to Terrorist Extortion in order to Save a Kidnaped Person?

R. Eliezer Melamed, Yeshivat Har Bracha, ~2002