Today, I am wearing blue and white, the colors of the Israeli flag. Last week, Tvika Mor, the father of Eitan Mor who is being held hostage in Gaza, requested that the public do so on September 1st, the day most of our children return to school after summer vacation. He believed doing so would give moral support and show solidarity with the families of the hostages, the families of the fallen and injured, the evacuated families and all of Israel. How could I ignore such a selfless suggestion from a suffering parent?
Today, my eyes are swollen. Although, over Shabbat two major terror attacks were miraculously thwarted, this morning I learned that the dead bodies of six of our hostages had been found and a terror attack near Hevron has left three more murdered.
Today, despite all this, I have hope. When I left my house, I saw my village Shilo was full of yellow balloons with this caption. Returning Happily to School and Waiting For Your Arrival*. Below the words is a picture of Avinatan Ohr. How we wait for his return.
Today, I attended the opening ceremony for my granddaughter’s entry into first grade. Over 120 girls, dressed in blue and white, are starting school here. When my youngest daughter began first grade there were barely thirty girls. We have grown and grown and continue to do so.
Today, the principal told the girls that it might be hard for their mothers to send them off to school, but thousands of years ago a mother named Yocheved put her baby boy into a basket in the river trying to save him. That baby was none other than Moses in whose merit the Jewish people received the Torah. Throughout the centuries villains have tried to destroy the Jewish people, and none have succeeded. The Torah has kept us alive as we keep the Torah.
Today, more than ever, I know the Jewish People Live. Am Yisroel Chai.
*loosely translated
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