Support the Families; Support Our Unity

This afternoon, I will be traveling to Eretz Yisroel in order to pay shiva calls to the families of our dear brothers, Eyal, Gilad and Naftali Hy”d on Sunday.

For those who are not able to personally express your sorrow and support to their noble families who taught all of the Jewish people everlasting Lessons in Faith, Dignity and Courage, allow me to be you shaliach (messenger) in doing so.

We’ve established a special email address to assure the privacy of your message: ProjectYESmessages@gmail.com A friend in Eretz Yisroel will be printing three copies of the messages and I will hand-deliver them to each of the families on Sunday. Please include your name and the city where you live as it will personalize your message and let the families know that their support comes from Jews worldwide.

I made the decision to go this morning when we realized that the extraordinary achdus (unity) that our people have achieved at such a terrible cost needs to be nurtured and supported if we are to maintain it. There are and may continue to be divisive voices and forces that will say and do things to unravel the unity we have achieved, and we therefore must collectively strive to maintain it regardless of the distractions.

I believe that the Shechina (Divine Presence) is found in homes and communities where there is friendship, kindness and acceptance. Rav Hutner zt’l was fond of saying that “chalukei de’os (differences of opinion)” are perfectly appropriate, but “pirud levavos (strife between our hearts) is unacceptable under any circumstances.

Just imagine a scenario where a set of grandparents have four married children. In three of the homes, there is discord and stress as the family members are constantly bickering, while the fourth home is an island of tranquility where the kids and parents are kind to each other. Which home do you think the grandparents will want to visit or live in? There is no doubt in my mind that, so too, Hashem’s Shechina is most comfortable in places where His children respect each other despite their differences.

These past few weeks have been very challenging to say the least as we have struggled to sort things out ourselves and have had to explain the inexplicable to our children and students.

The enemies that surround our people in Eretz Yisroel and seek their destruction care little about our background or level of religious observance. We should not let these things stand in the way of the shalom and achdus that will bring protection and bracha to Klal Yisroel.

Please join this effort to support the three grieving families and to support the unity we have achieved by sending your personal messages to ProjectYESmessages@gmail.com

May Hashem comfort the three families and all of His people with the coming of Moshiach, speedily in our time.

Yakov Horowitz

P.S. For those of you who wish to view last night's presentation on "The Tragedy in Eretz Yisroel - Sorting it Out Ourselves; Explaining it to Our Children" the link to the presentation is: http://youtu.be/_7XkXsxGvrU .

Please click this link to Project YES' new "Summer Safety Message Poster" that we are offering free of charge as a public service of The Karasick Child Safety Initiative of The Center for Jewish Family Life/Project YES.

Please click here to download and print (landscape format) the color PDF and post it in your shul, summer camp or bungalow colony. Education and awareness are such critical components of our efforts to keep our children safe from predators who would wish to harm them.