Am Echad, Lev Echad

What do you say about the past week's events that hasn't already been said? The impact the death of our three boys (OUR boys because after 18 days of searching for Gilad, Naftali and Eyal, of hoping they would come home, they became our boys), had on every one in Israel was immense and when we heard the devastating news that they would not be coming home because they had been brutally murdered by terrorists, the loss wasn't just for their families, but for every one of us. 

I have read article after article from people from different points of views, from different levels of religiousness, from different backgrounds and nationalities, but all with the same message of support and same tone of sorrowfulness. If I wrote about this week's events, my blog wouldn't be any different. I feel the same sadness, the same anger, the same sorrow that everyone has felt this past week. So instead of writing about the three boys and the terrible loss this country had, I want to share the impact today of all days this week has had on me.

Today, I went with a friend and her family to visit the shiva of two of these boys' families. I didn't want to intrude during this very sorrowful moment, but at the same time I wanted to show my support. To be like one of the thousands of people who have shown the families during these past few days that they are not alone. And so I went, and what I saw and felt was incredible. 

The amount of people at the Frenkel's house was unbelievable. Naftali's parents were sitting under a tent in their backyard surrounded by tens of people tying to give their condolences. Among those, was Sherri Mandell, whose son Koby was brutally murdered by terrorists in 2001. I was not farther than a yard away when one of those moments in which the world starts moving in slow motion took place. Sherri Mandell and Rachel Frenkel saw each other. Two women who had never met, but who recognized each other from TV and who now share an inexplicable bond held each other's hands. I couldn't hear what they said, but I could feel the intensity of the moment. 

We then visited Gilad's family's home. We had the incredible opportunity to sit with Gilad's parents and one of his sisters in their living room and listen to stories about Gilad and we talked about how not only in Israel, but in the US, in Colombia, in Panama and everywhere in the world, the boys are being remembered and memorials are being held in their names. Bat-Galim, Gilad's mother told us how a month ago the parents of these three boys had never met, but today, they share an incredible bond and they have found a new family in each other.

And just like the Mandells and the Frenkels and the Sha'ers and the Yifrahs share an unbreakable bond, Am Israel has bonded together over this tragedy, like we usually bond over difficult times. I have been utterly amazed at how an entire country mobilized to first find these children and now to comfort their families. Am echad, lev echad. The people of Israel is one nation, we are one heart.