Tuesday, June 17, 2014

There are no words, and yet...

 

How is it that in a time where the unspeakable is taking place, I feel thoughts pouring out of me?

On Friday morning, we started to receive information - actually, my teenagers did first - that some boys from the surrounding area were missing.  Teenaged boys, heading home Thursday night from high school for Shabbat, never made it to their own homes, to their own beds. A gag order on the press didn't prevent all sorts of wild rumors from being circulated throughout social media, heroic tales, stories with happy endings and some less so.  Time seemed to freeze at that point.  Since Friday, all we can do here is think about "our" boys, Eyal, Naftali, and Gil-Ad, and their families.  Are they alive?  Who has them?  Where are they?  Are they scared?  Are they together, or have they been separated?  Have they been given any food, any water? Are they in the dark? Are they cold, or too hot? Is their faith sustaining them?

Social media has been the new variable in all of this.  The #Bringbackourboys campaign is getting wide support, but also lots of hate from leftists and anti-Israel activists.  I type the hashtag like a prayer, hoping against hope that it will make a difference. The international media, while barely seeing fit to mention the kidnapping, refers to them as "seminary students" or "settlers," as if that justifies the evil act of stealing children.  I look at my Facebook news feed, and I wonder, how does anyone have anything to say or do that is not related to these boys?  I feel resentment at the posts celebrating birthdays, graduations, the art of the selfie. I want everyone, EVERYONE, to be sharing prayers and photos, reminding the world about these three innocent boys, and their unbelievably strong and inspirational families.

It is often said that it is important to maintain routine when "something like this" happens, so as not to give in to the terrorists.  But I hate that idea.  I want us to think of them all the time.  I don't want to go back to routine, as if to say that we should get used to this reality because a resolution could take a lot of time and life must continue on.  NO!! I want them home with parents who no longer have to wonder about the terror their sons are experiencing.  I want them home tonight.

And so I can't bring myself to post any work pictures.  Right now, that feels like giving in.  When they come home, whole and healthy, then there will be cake, and time for celebration, but right now, let's just pray for their homecoming, and do whatever little we can to help make that happen.
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