|
Pidyon
8
Shevuyim
The
Redemption of Captives
Maurice Ostroff
About the
Author
When
world Jewry was struggling for the release of Soviet Jews, we set aside an
empty place at our seder tables to represent our missing kin.
Last year Jews around the world were asked to place the figure 5 on
the seder table to remind us of our 5 MIA’s.
Sadly
this year you are urged to prominently display the numeral 8
to remind us of the captives who cannot be with their families
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ehud
Goldwasser |
Eldad
Regev |
Gilad
Shalit |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Zachary
Baumel |
Tzvi
Feldman |
Yehuda
Katz |
Ron
Arad |
Guy
Hever |
Remembering
the 8 soldiers on seder night also serves as a mark of protest against the
inhumane withholding of information about them by the PA, Hezbollah, Syria
and Iran
|
On
the joint initiative of the Jewish Agency and Amutat Habanim,
Sephardi Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar has prepared a special prayer
accompanied by Psalms for reading after the "Avadim Hayinu"
("We were slaves") passage in the Haggada on seder night.
|
|
Please
click
here for the complete text.
|
The
commonality of human distress is highlighted by a letter sent by the
families of Gilad Shalit, Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser to the British
Embassy in Israel conveying their support for the families of the 15
British sailors recently captured by Iran.
According
to Ynet, the families expressed their sympathy for the Britons' relatives,
saying they were saddened to hear of the abduction. "We recoiled at
the thought that another 15 families have joined the circle of uncertainty
that we have been part of for 9 months.
"Like
your sons, our sons were abducted while on a mission serving their
country. Like your sons, our sons have parents, brothers, wives and
friends."
They
added, "We send you our love and blessings. We are sure you will find
the immense strength you need to deal with the hard time that awaits you.
This is the time to embrace family and friends, to join forces in order to
return your sons home."
Reverting
to the 1982 Sultan Yacoub battle, the case of Zachary Baumel epitomizes
the suffering and anxiety that the families of the MIAs still endure.
In an exquisite refinement of torture in 1993, Yasir Arafat
acknowledged that he knew details of the fate of the soldier's and handed
one half of Baumel's identity tag to Yitzchak Rabin, with a firm promise
that more information regarding the MIA's would be forthcoming. He never
kept his promise, but it is believed that other members of the PA shared
the knowledge and that they should be pressed to disclose whatever
information they have, especially when are negotiating the release of
Palestinian prisoners. See also
http://www.thejewishweek.com/top/editcolcontent.php3?artid=4157
In
1998 two Dutch women Christa Rhodius, 49, and Jeannet Van Duuren met with
Yasser Arafat hoping he would hand over some of the missing soldier's
personal belongings they believe were stored in a safe that was originally
held by Abu Jihad (Khalil al-Wazir) in Tripoli, Lebanon and transferred to
Gaza. Arafat stonewalled and they did not succeed.
The two Dutch women asked Arafat where the other half of Baumel's
tag was, but he did not respond.
AP
and others have reported claims over the years by Lebanese and Palestinian
militias about the fate of the MIA's. That Syria knows the fate of at
least some of the soldiers is evident from the fact that soon after the
battle at Sultan Yaqub in which Baumel, Feldman and Katz went missing,
three Israeli soldiers were publicly paraded through the streets of Damascus. Palestinian and Syrian
officials have made many references to information in their possession
regarding the MIAs and one may hope that the newly appointed UN secretary
general will demand full and frank disclosure of information and the
release of the Israeli and British soldiers.
 Read
more articles by Maurice Ostroff
Mr. Ostroff's website: http://maurice-ostroff.tripod.com
|
