NCSY BOOKMARK URGES CONTINUED PRAYER FOR CAPTURED ISRAELI SOLDIERS GOLDWASSER, REGEV AND SHALIT
The war between Israel and Lebanon might be over (for now), but hopes for captured Israeli soldiers Ehud Goldwasser, Eldad Regev and Gilad Shalit are being kept alive as part of a new project of the NCSY Teens for Freedom program. NCSY, the national youth program of the Orthodox Union, has designed and is making available bookmarks with the message Pray for the Captured Israeli Soldiers which include photos of the soldiers on the front and a prayer composed by Chief Rabbi HaRav Yonah Metzger on the reverse.
Growing in popularity, one hundred thousand bookmarks have already been sent out and with another hundred thousand in print, they’re available while supplies last.
NCSY provides educational and fun events for both observant and non-observant teenagers. At the forefront in the battle against assimilation, it offers innovative programming which helps Jewish teens see the beauty of their heritage and a Torah observant lifestyle.
In a message to synagogues and yeshiva/day schools, Rabbi Steven Burg, National Director of NCSY, wrote that the bookmarks are intended to be kept in one’s siddur (prayer book), to encourage that individual and others to think of and pray for the captives regularly.
“After the Lebanon war, this issue has fallen off of many people’s radars, yet our brothers are still prisoners,” Rabbi Burg declared. “Just because something takes longer than expected, doesn’t mean we should forget about it,” he said.
Citing the Talmud Rabbi Burg wrote, “We must join together in this endeavor, since tefillos (prayers) of the tzibbur (community) are more powerful than those of the individual (Brachos 8a). Not only that, we must touch the hearts of our constituents, as the gates of tears are open even when the gates of prayer are closed (Brachos 32b).”
The prayer reads, “May the One Who blessed our ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, David and Solomon, bless the kidnapped and captive soldiers, including among them Gilad the son of Aviva Shalit, Ohed the son of Malka Goldwasser, and Eldad the son of Tova Regev. May the Holy One, Blessed be He, watch them and save them from all trouble and oppression and from all evil and injury. May He be filled with mercy for them, to cause them to recover and to heal them, to strengthen them and to invigorate them, and to bring them speedily to freedom, to return to the embrace of their families. May they merit long lives and years of much strength and peace. In the merit of our forefathers, may the descendants be saved and fulfill through them the verse, ‘Release my soul from imprisonment to praise Your Name’ (Psalms 142:8), swiftly and soon, and let us all say Amen.”
For more information on the bookmarks access .
To receive Pray for the Captured Israeli Soldiers bookmarks contact Frieda Gartenhaus at 212-613-8374 or friedag@ou.org.