For 61 straight Sunday afternoons, since November 12, 2023, Maya Landau Bajayo has led “Run For Their Lives” in the Denver metro area, leading marches through Denver’s Washington Park to keep the plight of the October 7th hostages in the forefront of the world’s mind.
As she looked ahead to week 62 on Sunday, January 19, her main concern was the possibility of bitterly cold weather. After discussions with her co-leaders—Miri Kornfeld, Omer Shachar, and Elinor Rifkin—they decided to move the weekly march indoors.
On the Wednesday before week 62, news broke that there might be a release of hostages soon, but Landau Bajayo didn’t even consider including that information in her weekly marketing flyer.
“I was such a pessimist,” she says. “I thought that they won’t vote on the agreement, or that it won’t get signed. And then, suddenly, I realized, ‘Oh my God, they are going to release hostages on Sunday when we are meeting!”
On Sunday, nearly 150 people joined Landau Bajayo at the Staenberg-Loup Jewish Community Center, many of whom have faithfully marched at Run For Their Lives carrying photographs of hostages every week. But this Sunday was different because the release of three hostages brought with it powerful emotions and a sense of accomplishment.
“It makes us feel that what we have done matters,” Landau Bajayo says. “We didn’t do the deal that got the hostages released, but we marched, and we matter.”
A day to celebrate
For the attendees at Run For Their Lives on January 19, this was an opportunity to celebrate the return of hostages held by Hamas for 471 days: Emily Damari, 28, kidnapped from Kfar Aza; Romi Gonen, 24, kidnapped from the Nova music festival; and Doron Steinbrecher, 31, kidnapped from Kfar Aza.
“This moment calls us to reflect on October 7th and the profound paradigm shift it brought to the Jewish community,” said JEWISHcolorado Board Chair Ben Lusher in remarks to the group. “There was life as we knew it before October 7th—and everything that came after. It was a turning point that forever altered how we see the world and ourselves. As we step into this next chapter shaped by those events, we must recognize that there is no returning to what once was. The world has changed, and we are called to change with it.”
Lusher reminded the crowd that the ceasefire agreement was new and still unfolding in real time. Romi, Emily and Doron were the first of 33 hostages set to be released as part of this initial phase of negotiations, but the path ahead remains uncertain. He asked his audience to maintain hope for those still held captive and to grieve for those who did not live to see this day.
Landau Bajayo is among those whose family carries the weight of October 7th grief. Her husband’s cousin, 51-year-old Ravid Katz, was killed as he defended families in Kibbutz Nir Oz from the terrorist attack. Hamas took his body into Gaza. Months later, on July 24, 2024, the IDF found and returned his remains to Israel, where he received an official military burial at Kibbutz Nir Oz.
“It meant a lot to the family that he could have a proper burial,” Landau Bajayo said. “It was a big deal to everyone that he was recognized.”
It was her personal experience, in part, that motivated Landau Bajayo to create the Denver chapter of the global organization Run For Their Lives. She remembers thinking to herself at their first walk in November 2023 that “by the end of the year, all the hostages will be back.”
When that didn’t happen, she made a resolution.
“We have to keep going,” she said. “There was never a point when I thought about stopping. Yes, it’s sometimes hard for us, but imagine what the hostages are going through.”
Over the many months, the group gelled into a small community where people came every week, got to know each other, and took care of each other. Over the past year, they have received thanks from families of hostages for their work keeping the issue of the hostages on the world agenda. On January 19, they recorded a welcome home video for the three most recently released hostages, and they looked ahead to week 63, but now with greater hope.
“May this ceasefire be more than a pause—may it be a reminder of what is possible when we choose life, choose hope, and choose each other,” Lusher told the group. “May we honor this moment by praying for the continued release of hostages and for a thriving Jewish future rooted in fellowship, unity, and connection.”