Millions of prayers have been uttered; millions of kapitlach of Tehillim have been recited since last Erev Shabbos, when three innocent boys were snatched out of their normal, yeshiva lives and turned into pawns for Hamas terrorists—whose hatred of the Jewish people was nurtured within them from the moment they took their first breaths on this earth. And once again, as our community has done too many times before, we come together to seek comfort in each other when our children become targets of political insanity. We have lost too many to terrorism.
What is most interesting is the silence of our representatives in Washington as we were going to press. On Monday, only Congressman Bill Pascrell, Jr. stepped up to the plate, and without any prompting, sent JLBC an email, expressing his feelings about the boys, condemning Hamas for their heinous terrorist act and asking the U.S. administration to do everything in its power to help the Israelis find those boys. He said more than did Senator Menendez, who as of Wednesday night, had yet to post a statement to his website; ditto Senator Cory Booker. But then, President and Mrs. Obama, and Vice President Joe Biden, also have not made any public statements regarding the captured boys, although Secretary of State John Kerry did make strong statements during the course of the week. Still, it doesn’t feel quite right when our representatives and our President are so quiet about something that is so obviously wrong.
One of the most interesting reactions came from none other than the fellow who wrote the song, back in the 70’s called Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round An Old Oak Tree so that we wouldn’t forget the Vietnam POWs and MIAs as well as the hostages being held in Iran. He happened to have been in Israel when the kidnapping happened, and somehow managed to meet the boys’ parents. In a video that went viral, he gave an impromptu press conference and said he was going to ask everyone he meets to tie three yellow ribbons around their trees. That is very sweet, and kind, and empathetic, but it doesn’t really do anything….Unless, of course, it inspires every single one of us to sit down and compose an email, make a phone call, or send a letter, to the President of the United States and tell him, “Enough! You have the technology, the know-how, the weapons and the equipment to find those boys, along with Humint on the ground. Twist a few arms, lay on some sanctions, cut off aid, and bring those boys home. Now!”
