Students at Temple Emanu-El create a banner of handprints to add to a giant “flag” conveying support for kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
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January 29, 2009
There was a note of personal intensity to Sael Abecassis’ presentation to the religious school students at Temple Emanu-El in Westfield last Wednesday, Jan 21.
Israeli emissaries throughout New Jersey and across the country have been leading events designed to educate Jewish children about the plight of Cpl. Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier kidnapped by Palestinian militants in June 2006. Abecassis, who is spending the year as a shaliah with the Jewish Federation of Central New Jersey, also gave a presentation a couple of weeks earlier to the students at Temple Har Shalom in Warren.
For Abecassis, this is more than just a story; he was serving in Gaza himself at the time of the kidnapping, not far from where Shalit was taken. At the time, he told NJJN, they were all sure Israeli forces would soon rescue their colleague. “We never thought that Gilad would be a captive for so long,” he said.
The 125 students who attended the Emanu-El event learned that as of that day, Shalit had been held captive for 958 days. Abecassis told them how the soldier was captured and of the many efforts that have been made to win his freedom.
He also described the ways friends, family, and the Israeli army are doing what they can to make sure that Shalit’s plight is not forgotten.
Israeli emissary Sael Abecassis leads a class at Temple Emanu-El’s religious school to raise awareness about Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier held captive by Hamas.
Sael Abecassis read from When the Shark and the Fish First Met, a book written by captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit when he was 11. The story, illustrated by Israeli artists and children, was displayed at The Edge Art Center in Nahariya, Israel, in coordination with the Israeli Illustrators’ Association.
Illustration by sixth-grader Shawn Rotman, Ussishkin Elementary School, Nahariya
Abecassis also explained why it is believed that Shalit is still alive, even after the latest conflict in Gaza. “He is a very big ‘ask,’” Abecassis said, “a very valuable negotiating piece for Hamas, so they want to keep him alive.”
Perhaps the strongest connection for the students came from Shalit’s own words. The emissary read from a translation of When the Shark and the Fish First Met, a book Shalit wrote when he was 11 years old. It tells of the unlikely friendship that develops between two very different creatures.
Abecassis told NJJN the students immediately saw the parallel to the human situation and recognized the irony that this young man — who, even as a child, was a champion of peace — should be the victim of a war. “They really got that idea themselves,” he said. “One of the girls said it shows people can get along even if they are different.”
There will be visual proof of the Emanu-El students’ concern for Shalit. They all dipped their hands in paint and put prints — with their names signed alongside — on a large white banner. The banners from federations all over the country, each bearing its logo, will be gathered into a giant “flag” in Tel Aviv, Abecassis said, with a statement to the effect: “Gilad is still alive, and we want him to be free.”
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