The Beauty Of Jewish Unity

It could have been our child. When 19-year-old Eyal Yifrach, 16-year-old Gilad Shaar and 16-year-old Naftali Frankel were abducted as they waited for a ride to take them home to their families for Shabbat after spending a week studying at their yeshivot, we were all shaken. Every one of us felt as though a piece of our heart and soul had been taken away by the terrorists who snatched the three innocent teenage students. As we watched the parents of the boys speak out publicly about their sons’ kidnapping, we all thought the same thing – that could have been us. And when we learned of the boys’ tragic fate earlier this week, we grieved alongside their families and felt their pain.

Historically, in times of crisis Jews have generally come together. Irrespective of where any particular person is on the religious spectrum, we as a people band together when faced with a challenging situation. Religious and political ideologies are often laid aside when confronted with a trying set of circumstances, such as the one that we are grappling with now.

We remember all too well the torment we endured when Gilad Shalit was taken captive. After he was abducted by Hamas and then spent five years in captivity, we came together as a people. We prayed for his return and we suffered together with his parents until he was finally reunited with his family.

The situation we found ourselves dealing with over the past several weeks is equally as trying, and perhaps even more so. The boys who were abducted and then brutally murdered were not soldiers; they were students. They could have been our students.

Nothing is more precious to us than our children. We raise them, we nurture them, we educate them, and we love them. We would do anything to protect them. By grabbing Eyal, Gilad and Naftali and killing them in a cowardly and barbaric fashion, the terrorists demonstrated the despicable depths to which they will sink to terrorize the state of Israel and the Jewish nation. The heartless and heinous kidnapping/murder is a sobering reminder that the terrorists will do anything in their power to strike at the very essence of the Jewish people.

And yet, despite the odious nature of this terrorist act, we refuse to let it break our spirit. We as Jews respond to a crisis and a tragedy the only way we know how – together.

Before we learned of their tragic death, Jews throughout the world took to the various social media platforms to raise awareness of the boys’ plight and the horrific act that turned our worlds upside down. #BringBackOurBoys and #EyalGiladNaftali were trending on Twitter. There was an outpouring of support from people around the world for the boys and widespread sympathy for the anguish of their families. We all talked about the need to bring back not theboys, but ourboys.

As Jews, we also did what we should always do when confronted with an urgent situation such as this – we prayed. People across the globe gathered for prayer vigils and to recite Psalms in communal gatherings. We joined together to cry out and appeal for the swift and safe return of our boys.

Eyal, Gilad and Naftali may not have been our biological children, but they were our boys. They were young, innocent students who merited our full support and deserved our unconditional love and concern.

As the parent of a daughter, who, like Gilad and Naftali is 16 years old, and who spent this year studying at a high school in Israel, this episode hit especially close to home. When she returns to Israel in the fall to begin another school year there, the abduction and murder of the three boys will be foremost in my mind.

I will be thinking about it not because I am in any way worried about my daughter, but because I understand that the very fact that she wants to be in Israel and go to school there is proof that the terrorists cannot and will not win. There will always be young men and women, families and seniors, who want to travel to Israel, be a part of Israel, and live in Israel. That unquenchable desire to be in Israel is a testament to the resiliency we have as a people and the undying love we have for the Jewish state.

The Jewish unity that has been on full display during this terrible ordeal is a thing of sheer beauty. The torment the boys’ families have endured is unimaginable. Yet, despite the evil intentions and monstrous actions of our enemies, they have unintentionally caused Jews from all walks of life to come together. We tried to do everything in our power to bring our boys home, and now that they are gone, we continue to stand united with the victims’ families and we voice our collective outrage at the vicious terrorist act that claimed their lives.

We are one nation and one family. The tragic loss of Eyal, Gilad and Naftali is felt by each and every one of us. We will not rest until our boys’ killers are brought to justice and held accountable for their unspeakable crime.