{"id":1606,"date":"2014-06-17T21:03:39","date_gmt":"2014-06-17T21:03:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/?p=1606"},"modified":"2014-06-19T18:10:39","modified_gmt":"2014-06-19T18:10:39","slug":"free-our-boys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/free-our-boys\/","title":{"rendered":"Free Our Boys!"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Esther Korson<\/a><\/p>\n

There are a number of things that I shared in earlier blogs that I\u2019d like to review right now.\u00a0 First of all, that it is impossible to understand this nation apart from the tragedy of the Holocaust.<\/p>\n

\"Kidnapped-Israeli-Boys\"<\/a>

Kidnapped-Israeli-Boys<\/p><\/div>\n

When people threaten to destroy us, we have to take it seriously, as Prime Minister Begin so poignantly said years ago.\u00a0 We lost 6 million people, including 1\u00bd million children.\u00a0 Children are our future and they are treasured.\u00a0 When Israeli teenagers were questioned on whom their best friends were\u201480% listed their parents!\u00a0 And, finally, that this nation is a family. So when three teenagers, Eyal Yifrach, aged 19; Naftali Frankel, aged 16; and Gil-ad Shaar, aged i6, were kidnapped by terrorists last Thursday night, you have to understand that it deeply affected the people in this small nation.\u00a0 As of today, the 17th, there has still been no word on their whereabouts.\u00a0 Massive searches are being held as well as prayer vigils and signs of support from everybody. When situations like this happen to us as a nation and as a people, it feels almost like an Israeli love song\u2014for the feelings of love and support are intense and touching to behold.\u00a0 I want to share all this with you today, since most of you who read these blogs already love Israel.\u00a0 I\u2019m simply going to quote some news items that hopefully will give you a sense of what we\u2019re experiencing here in these trying days.\u00a0 I want you to be a part of it, since you are a part of this family, and your hopes and prayers can join with ours as we share in this together.<\/p>\n

Chief Rabbi David Lau held a prayer service at the Western Wall.\u00a0 Around 30,000 worshipers packed the plaza of the holy site to pray for the safe return of the three yeshiva students. Prayer vigils were held throughout the land.\u00a0 The security forces began a massive search, and some reservists were called up to help in the rescue operations.\u00a0 Whenever anyone tunes into the news\u2014very frequently in situations like these\u2014it is always with hope that there will be good news. The feeling of togetherness is palpable. As someone commented on the day of the kidnapping, \u201cThirty minutes ago, I never heard of those three teenagers.\u00a0 But now, it feels like it happened to my own family\u2026\u201d
\n