Seeing Gilad

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Did one of your children ever come home late? From school? From a friend’s house? From baseball practice? You decide that this time you are definitely not going to freak out…you will stay calm for another half an hour…and then for another half an hour.

But by the time the clock hits your deadline,  you panic, imagining the worst. And right around then, without fail, your child strolls in the door and says “Hey mom, is there anything to eat? I’m starving!”

But imagine another mother whose son is late. An hour late, two hours late, a year late, two years, three years late.. How could a mother like that maintain her sanity as well as her faith that one day her son would finally stroll in through her front door again?

I am sure I speak for all Jewish mothers when I say that the thought of what Gilad, Aviva, and Noam Shalit (as well as  siblings Yoel and Hadas Shalit) have been going through breaks my heart…

So I felt tremendous relief and joy to witness to a mini-resurrection of the dead this week as I watched her son, Gilad, appearing healthy and good-natured and shy-smiled as ever  in this video below…

The ongoing struggle to release Gilad Shalit has reminded me of something so important- it has reminded me of the inconceivably precious nature of every single child, every single Jew.

But another thing too. Who can watch this and not feel that this Gilad ben Aviva is a special human being-  blessed with a special gentleness, a special goodness, a special shine about him? A special soul chosen by G-d to bring Jews of all flavors and affiliations together in unity around his release?

Enough already!

Gilad, we miss you, and want you home!!

2 comments

  1. Thank you for posting this. What Chana wrote about the worry of a mother is true for the parents of all the MIAs. Though Zachary, Tzvi, Yehuda, Ron, Guy, and Magdi have been missing for longet than Gilad, for the Baumel, Feldman, Katz, Hever, and Halabi families still have that same feeling of worry and fear that they had when their son was first declared MIA. Please don’t forget any of our MIAs, no matter how long they have been missing. Their families need your support and prayers.
    May we merit to see them all come home ,soon!

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