Oh no

We are heartbroken. We are absolutely heartbroken. I keep thinking of that quote from Fiddler on the Roof: I know, I know, we are your Chosen People. But once in a while, can't You choose someone else? I know that the strength of the Jews is that we are so closely knit, and that when someone else's children are kidnapped, children that we don't know and never would have met, we all *truly* feel that they are our own children. But it gets to be a heavy weight to bear.

And yet, I woke up this morning to our vibrant Judean hills, and couldn't help but think - these are *my* hills, no one is going to scare me away. This area is known as Derech HaAvot, the Pathway of the Fathers, so named because it is the natural path between Hebron and Jerusalem, the path that Abraham first walked. His descendants, myself included, have been walking here ever since. You really think you can scare me away?

And then I think of the biblical commandment to love the Stranger, and to treat them as you would treat yourself. And I look at these hills and I think Really? There isn't room here for all of us? Just be peaceful, and we can live together, what's the big deal? It's not so hard, just be friendly. Didn't your mother teach you to be friendly? You can do it.

I'm waiting, and I'm trying to be patient. I hope that actual peace, real peace, the kind where people share resources peacefully instead of evicting each other, is something that can be achieved in my lifetime, and I can't for the life of me understand why logically it shouldn't. 

May the memories of Eyal, Gil-ad, and Naftali be a blessing. Please pray for the wellbeing of their poor, poor families. And for us all.