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July 16, 2008
Shalom!
For two years the people of Israel have been praying that God would free our kidnapped soldiers, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, and bring them home from Lebanon and the hands of Hezbollah terrorists. Then, at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, July 16, we all waited together, glued to our television screens, to welcome them home. We had clues that we might be receiving coffins instead of smiles. Yet we held to the dream that one, or both, would come running through the border crossing into their grieving family's arms.
Military service is mandatory in Israel, so every Israeli parent can relate to the tears and desperate pleas that we have heard from the soldier's families over the past two years. In 2006 we watched Karnit Goldwasser, then a new wife of only 10 months, break down upon hearing the news that her husband was taken captive. We heard her beg with all her heart to bring him home and put this horrendous saga to an end.
Hezbollah, in an act of unspeakable cruelty, refused to tell Israel if the soldiers were dead or alive. Yet there was always the chance that the captured soldiers were living. Israelis felt it was our responsibility as a nation to bring our young servicemen home from the torture and pain that they were going through - if, of course, Hezbollah had not already killed them. Hezbollah is evil and also very shrewd. They know that Israel does not desert its captured soldiers. They took advantage of the concern Israel has for its own, threw it in our face, and left us with the hardest decision possible: Whether or not to trade murderers for our children.
News of the prisoner swap was greeted with mixed emotions by the Israeli public. Though joyous that our soldiers would be finally coming home, everyone was also painfully aware of the price. We would be releasing a notorious cold blooded murderer, Samir Kuntar, four other Hezbollah gunmen, and hundreds of bodies, in exchange for our two soldiers — who ended up coming home in coffins. On the one hand, this swap gave peace of mind to every mother sending her child into the army, assuring them that the government will do everything in its power to make sure that they return home. At the same time, now every mother lives in fear for her children, because Samir Kuntar is out of prison and soaking in the glory of "living martyrdom" in Lebanon.
When I woke up this morning my stomach was churning. I prayed with all of my heart for the soldiers to be reunited with their families and with their nation. I prayed that they would be alive - yet I knew the chances were slim. At 9:00 I sat at the television. When I saw Ehud and Eldad's coffins I broke down crying. Ehud's wife nearly fainted. Both soldier's parents screamed out loud. But it was not only the Goldwasser and Regev families who were mourning. All Israel, Jewish people everywhere, and friends of Israel around the world mourned with them.
It was a somber day. It's finally over - we have our boys, and they are now buried on our land. However, Gilad Shalit, another Israeli soldier, is still being held captive by Hamas in Gaza, just miles from where I sit now in Jerusalem. We know he is alive, we pray for him daily and light Shabbat candles in his honor. Every tear we shed, we are thinking of him. We will bring him home, and hope it's not at a high price. Israel cherishes life and appreciates our boys and will always bring them home. We will gather the Jews from all corners of the world - even from our terrorist neighbors.
Yael |
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