It is 9:30 in the morning on July first 2014. As a Canadian I should be happy and celebrating.
My emotions on this day couldn’t be farther away. For more than 12 hours now I’ve barely been able to hold back tears.
On Friday June 13, while leading a Birthright tour, one of the madrichim with me told me about the kidnapping of 3 Jewish students in Gush Etzion. Right away, it threw me back to harder times that Israel has known. I really hoped that this story would end like Gilad Shalit’s and not the countless other kidnappings that we know too well.
Over the past two weeks the entire country hoped and prayed for the safety of Gil-Ad, Naftali and Eyal.
Last night, while having dinner with friends, we saw the news. Words can’t explain the deep feeling of loss and sorrow that I’ve felt since then.
I don’t know when I became such an emotional person. Maybe it’s because of past experiences that always stay with me, memories that surface when I feel this sort of loss. Maybe it’s because I’m a father. This morning when I walked my son to his playgroup, I couldn’t stop thinking of how hard it must be to lose the biggest treasure that a person can have.
Maybe it’s because I’m human.
Today is a sad day for the country of Israel and for the Jewish people. A reminder that nothing in life can be taken for granted.
A reminder that Israel and the Jewish people everywhere are united at times of need.
We are all mourning together
As a parent and grandparent I know the sick feeling when a child is missing for a few minutes. I can’t even begin to imagine the loss of a child by such senseless violence. Eyal, Gilad and Naftali must have had special souls to have finished their missions here, in this world, so young. I’m very grateful their end was quick.