It happened, and it's already here.
The sights we all preferred not to see returned again. The words we all preferred not to hear returned again.
""The Kidnappers," "Hamas and Jihad," "Bring the Boys Home," "Negotiations," and "No to the Release of Terrorists" are just keywords for what seems to be an Israeli drama series that repeats itself from time to time. Same plot, new actors.
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The forces are ready, the searches are expanding, the prayers are intensifying, the declarations are getting stronger, and the little citizen is lost in a thick fog, without understanding how this happened again and why specifically to us.
The finger – the one that was never raised to stop hitchhikers – is pointed at whoever can be blamed. The search for someone who will take responsibility on the Israeli side overshadows the search for the kidnapped. There are those who, in the current situation, will try to hitchhike to garner a few more votes for the elections that will benefit us. The kidnapped? – Oh yes, let them benefit too.
Because then we wouldn't be
So who's to blame? - Everyone!
The left is to blame for not being able to seize power because then we wouldn't have reached this situation. Of course not. After all, a peace agreement would have been signed long ago and they wouldn't have had to kidnap Israelis to Gaza or Hebron, because they would have come on their own to mop up hummus or fix the leaking carburetor for a quarter of the price.
The right, simply because it is always to blame for the bad things it did not prevent and the good things it did not achieve.
The center, because with a little will, he would move a little to the left and bring peace, or a little to the right and bring war, but he wouldn't stay stuck in the center without bringing anything.
The Haredim, because they do not enlist in the army – which could prevent such kidnappings.
Because some of them do enlist – which increases the number of soldiers and therefore the percentage of risk of soldier kidnappings. Because they are free eaters. Because they sometimes fast. Because they are parasites. Because they only volunteer in volunteer organizations. And mainly, because they are just Haredim who feed on rabbis and small letters written in black on worn pages, instead of signing 'travel forms' and leaving the country for a few months – which reduces their risk of being kidnapped.
When the waves get stronger – the strong emerge
And just as the kidnapped disappeared, several others disappeared who weren't necessarily kidnapped. Maybe captives. I mean, babies who were captured. Disappeared without leaving a trace, or statuses. Or tweets. Simply disappeared without anyone taking responsibility. Not even those who usually take responsibility for their kidnapping. The microphones, for example.
But precisely then, when the waves get stronger, the strong ones emerge.
Those who never surrendered, never raised their hands. Perhaps only during prayer, and even then only upward. Those who declare morning and evening that their Torah is their art and their art is in their prayer. Only these are revealed in such difficult hours as the beautiful face of this people. What is still left of it.
Mass prayer rallies are organized almost spontaneously. In them, you can see kippah knitters alongside spodik wearers, garter belts alongside tie-sewners, everyone standing shoulder to shoulder, leaving their disputes, grievances and complaints far behind them and coming to demonstrate. Unity, of course.
And perhaps this is what we are faced with now:
Maybe if we know how to remain united, free from self-interest and imbued with caring, maybe then such unfortunate incidents won't happen, that... there's no other way to say it, but they're the only ones that succeed in making us unite.
To do everything, everything, to leverage this unity, to strengthen it, and to ride this wave of love for Israel that is erupting these days onto the pier that usually separates all of us.
Just hitch a ride on it. This time, I have a feeling, that's what will bring them back!
With God's help.
