Jews around the world have been praying, performing acts of kindness, attending concerts and rallies, and even turning to social media and starting the hashtag #bringbackourboys, in hopes of seeing Eyal Yifrach, Gilad Shaar and Naftali Fraenkel return speedily and safely home. Unfortunately, this will not be the case. There are no words that can express the communal devastation. All of the Jewish community is in mourning over the loss of these three boys. May Hashem comfort the three families amongst the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem and spare Klal Yisroel any further suffering.
The news is still both fresh and numbing. Many people have questions and are searching for religious responses to the tragic deaths of Eyal, Gilad and Naftali. The following are a collection of thoughtful and insightful articles devoted to exploring religious responses that can the layperson to the scholar cope with this heartbreaking news. We will update this page as more articles and words of chizuk become available. Tehay zichram baruch.
Insightful Links and Articles
Agudath Israel Statement on the Tragic News from Israel
Rabbi Steinsaltz, His Murdered Students And A Call To Action
Sara Debbie Gutfreund:Tears and Shattered Prayers
Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein: The Gift of The Three Kedoshim by Rabbi Adlerstein
Rabbi Moshe Weinberger: A Message of Hope
Rabbi Basil Herring: On the Untimely Death of the Young
Rabbi Moshe Taragin: What Happened to our Tefillot; When HKB’H says ‘No’
Rabbi Benjamin Blech: Mourning Together
Rabbi Shay Schachter: Communal Reflection in Memory of Gilad, Naftali and Eyal
Rav Aharon Yehuda Leib Shteinman: On the Murders of the Youths
Rav Chaim Kanievsky: On the Murders of the Youths
Rabbi Dr. Dovid Fox PhD: Our Role in Times of Crisis
Chief Rabbi Lau: On the Murders of the Youths
Chai Lifeline: How To Talk To Children About The Murdered Yeshiva Boys
Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis: A Response to the Murder of #EyalGiladNaftali
Young Israel Statement on the Murder of the Three Kidnapped Israeli Boys
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks: In Memoriam Eyal, Gilad and Naftali
Were Our Tears Shed in Vain? A Torah Response to an Unspeakable Tragedy – Video with Rabbi Weinreb
Beautiful letter from Rabbi Yakov Bender S’hlita
A Chassidic Woman’s Response to the Murders
Further Resources for Coping with Loss
YU Torah: Coping with loss and terror
Chai Lifeline: Tools to Assist in a Time of Crisis
NLE Morasha Syllabus: Jewish Perspectives on Death, Burial, and Mourning
Videos
OHEL’s Dr Norman Blumenthal: Talking to Children After a Tragedy
What should I say? How should I say it? OHEL’s Dr Norman Blumenthal warmly and sensitively discusses how best to communicate tragedy and trauma to children.
Beth Jacob Memorial from Reuven Fauman on Vimeo.
Rabbi Yakov Horowitz “Sorting out the Tragedy in Eretz Yisrael”
