Posted on 10/14/2011 2:24:30 PM PDT by ventanax5
No one denies the long suffering of the Schalit family. Noam and Aviva Schalit and their relatives have endured five years and four months of uninterrupted anguish since their son St.-Sgt. Gilad Schalit was abducted from his army post by Palestinian terrorists and spirited to Gaza in June 2006. Since then, aside from one letter and one videotaped message, they have received no signs of life from their soldier son.
There is not a Jewish household in Israel that doesn’t empathize with their suffering. It isn’t simply that most Israelis serve in the IDF and expect their children to serve in the IDF.
It isn’t just that it could happen to any of our families.
As Jews, the concept of mutual responsibility, that we are all a big family and share a common fate, is ingrained in our collective consciousness. And so, at a deep level, the Schalit family’s suffering is our collective suffering.
And yet, and yet, freedom exacts its price. The cause of freedom for the Jewish people as a whole exacts a greater sacrifice from some families than from others.
(Excerpt) Read more at jpost.com ...
Prayers going up for this young man and his parents.
I wept when I saw the picture, front page, top-of-the-fold this morning, of the Schalit family awaiting the news. I remember praying for this man way back then when he was taken. I eventually stopped praying; his family never did. Hallelujah.
I can sympathize with Israel on this one. I know negotiating sets a bad precedent but its not like they would stop kidnapping Jews if they did not negotiate. When you are a tiny country being threatened with extinction, every citizen is especially precious.
I just don’t understand why Israel doesn’t send the 1,000 terrorists home with GPS chips or AIDS or some kind of slow release radioactive poisoning. Maybe just 999 of them so it is a fair trade. Then again they would all come back for the free medical care so maybe it’s better to let the majority of them get it in “work place accidents.”
The cause of freedom for the Jewish people as a whole exacts a greater sacrifice from some families than from others.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.