A Wing & A Prayer

Please check out the prayer chain started by Olah Chadasha. I've seen it picked up by many, and it is worth seeing the different prayer each has posted, including her husband Olah Yahshan, myself, Irina, Sarah, IfYouWillIt, Shlemazl, LifeinIsrael, Sabra, Chana, and Jameel. Please, take a few moments to read them all.

There's an old song which was often sung in my high school during a kumzitz which would follow every melave malka. The melave malka would usually consist of a few hours of great dancing, and the kumzitz was another hour and a half of sitting on the floor singing nice, slow, relaxing/inspiring songs. The following was a favorite, and I think it's applicable with the terrible kidnappings (now numbering three) happening in Israel. It's worth noting the difference between Israel and the Palestinians for a moment: When Israel arrests or captures a terrorist, there's no concern that they will kill him, torture him, behead him, or use him as a bargaining chip. They wouldn't even be able to - the Palestinians would just let him die, not negotiate for his life.

When an Israeli is kidnapped, the Palestinians make demands: Release terrorists, give up land, etc. They know that Israel values the life of every person, and they take advantage of it. The reason we have to have a "No Negotiations With Terrorists" is for exactly this reason: All they do is accept the offer, then go back on it and try to do it again. Is it not clear, 15 years later, that they simply do not abide by the same moral standards as the rest of us? Anyways, here's the poem:

The little bird is calling,
He wishes to return
The little bird is wounded,
He cannot fly but yearns
He's captured by the vultures,
And is crying bitterly
Oh to see my nest again,
Oh to be redeemed

The little bird of silver
So delicate and rare
Still chirps amoung the vultures
Outshining all that's there
How long, how long it suffers
How long will it be
When will come the eagle
And set the little bird free

This time, the little dove is Gilad Shalit. It is Eliyahu Asheri. It is a 62-year old man from Rishon L'Tzion. The vultures are the terrorists, lower than life itself. I am certain that the kidnapped are outshining all that's there, and I hope and pray that their suffering is minimal.

May the eagle set them free.