Selected Reform Responsa 153
To sum up: Although the modem situation is chiefly political, and the older situation pecuniary, the long and bitter Jewish experience with hostages gives us, as we see above, various methods that may be deemed analogous and helpful. One thing, perhaps, may also be mentioned as a final analogy: Special societies devoted to the redemption of hostages became a method of widespread social dedication in Jewish life. So nowadays with modern methods of broadcasting communications, the communities can not only be kept informed of the latest news, but can be morally aroused as the Jewish communities were, and thus will ultimately be led to the solution of this tragic modem problem.
Solomon B. Freehof