And so, from Elul to Yom Kippur, we work overtime to pile the merits and mitzvos on the scale so that we receive a favorable judgment and gain reprieve from any punishments coming to us. We usually do this on a personal level. But in June I saw it on a national level and that unity, that family devotion to one another is what God wants. That unity tips the scale for everyone.
Tragically, devastatingly, the boys did not come home. They watched from their very special place in Heaven how hard we tried. And they, in their special place, watched while yeshiva students and soldiers, the secular and religious, politicians and rabbis, brothers and sisters sang and wept as they said goodbye. They weren’t surprised because while we still struggle to understand, they no longer needed to.
Let us not lose the momentum that was created only three months ago, that spiritual momentum that the mothers of the boys inspired, with their faith, their gratitude, their nobility, their courage when we all rose to the challenge of unprecedented kindness and unity.
These three wonderful boys Gilad Shaer, Eyal Yifrah and Naftali Frankel did something miraculous – they united us in an unprecedented ways.
Let us continue to be one in the memory of these heroes, Naftali, Gilad and Eyal. May their memory be a blessing and let us make them proud of us.
Shanah tovah u’mevorachat.
