NCSY Bookmark Urging Prayer for Israeli Captives, Reprinted to Include More Victims; Access on Web

09 Feb 2007

NCSY BOOKMARK, URGING CONTINUED PRAYER FOR CAPTIVE ISRAELI SOLDIERS, REPRINTED TO INCLUDE MORE VICTIMS;
MAY BE ACCESSED ON THE WEB

Based on the tremendous demand for bookmarks with the message Pray for the Captured Israeli Soldiers, NCSY, the youth program of the Orthodox Union, has redesigned the program and in addition to the most recent captives — Ehud Goldwasser, Eldad Regev and Gilad Shalit — who appeared on the original bookmark — now includes: Guy Hever, Ron Arad, Zachary Baumel, Yehuda Katz, and Tzvi Feldman, all of whom disappeared in action going back to 1982.

The bookmark is a project of the NCSY Teens for Freedom program and has Hebrew and English versions. NCSY printed 100,000 copies of the original version and 50,000 for the revised bookmarks.

Due to high demand, NCSY is making the newly-designed bookmarks available to a wider audience by offering it in an online format that can be easily downloaded and printed by clicking on the Teens for Freedom tab on www.ncsysummer.com.

Besides photos of all eight soldiers, the new bookmark features a prayer, based on one composed by Chief Rabbi HaRav Yonah Metzger.

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 the siddur’s owner and others to think of and pray for the captives regularly.

To support the efforts of Teens for Freedom, NCSY’s upcoming summer programs are dedicating all of the Torah learning during their sessions to be a merit for the well-being and speedy release of the soldiers. To learn more about NCSY’s summer programming log-on to www.ncsysummer.com.

The prayer on the bookmark 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 ben (the son of) Aviva Shalit; Ohed ben Malka Goldwasser; Eldad ben Tova Regev; Guy ben Rina Hever, Ron ben Batya Arad; Yekutiel Yehuda Nachman ben Sarah Katz; Tzvi ben Penina Feldman; and Zecharia Shlomo ben Miriam Baumel. 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 missing Israeli captives and for ways you can help access https://www.ou.org:443/community/.