18 DAYS IN CAPTIVITY WHEN WILL IT EVER END?

     So tonight I could not even fall asleep. My mind kept returning to the three boys held in some dark and confined space, underground, written off by the world, but part of the entire Jewish nation. Thousands came out to Rabin Square last night to sing in their name, to put forth a full throated plea that they be rescued, be found and returned to the love and hearth of their families.
     I have never seen such strong families as the three bereft ones now in the news. They are going to keep their sons in the news, plead in front of the world for their sons but know that there is a chance that the worst can happen. And yet, their faith is as strong as it ever was. And they are not alone in their grief and faith as only those who have lost a child to terror can fully comprehend what they are feeling and undergoing. The parents and families of Nachshon Wachsman, of Koby Mandel, of Yosef Ish-Ran, of Alysa Flatow, of Malka Roth, and the list goes on and on, as children are so often the victim of these terrorists. Children on buses, children hiking, playing in the street, waiting outside a synagogue, celebrating a family event. Children.
     18 is a number that translates in the Jewish tradition to life. Multiples of the number are often given in donations. Yet this 18th day has brought no news to a nation that has adopted these boys into all their families. In fact, Jews all around the world have gathered  in rallies, in prayer assemblies. Please G-d, in your mercy, return these boys, we pray, bring them out of the darkness into light, from the narrow confines of prison to the openness of life, from slavery to freedom, please, soon.
     This, in essence, is what we pray. This, in essence, is what Jews have been praying for millennium as we rescued Jews all over the world. It is one of the biggest mitzvoth, or good deeds that one can do.
     So world out there - return our boys. Show by your words AND DEEDS that you feel the pain of a people, of families bereft of their children. These were children on their way home, not to throw rocks. Not to cause havoc. Not to threaten. Simply to go home and spend the Shabbat in prayer and with family as we are commanded. Imagine the pain in the hearts and minds of the families and multiply it by millions as all Jews around the world unite, from left to right and back again.


#BRINGBACKOURBOYS


NAFTALI  GILAD   EYAL


DEAR LORD, PLEASE RETURN THEM TO LIFE, TO THEIR FAMILIES, IN PEACE, HEALTH AND HAPPINESS. ALLOW US TO PRAISE YOU ONCE MORE, ONCE AGAIN, AS WE PRAY -

LO YISHAN SHOMER YISROEL

HE WHO WATCHES OVER ISRAEL DOES NOT SLEEP.

                  PLEASE