When a beautiful young woman speaks of her lost husband, she speaks to anyone who has suffered a loss or wondered what it would be like to lose a loved one.

When Karnit Goldwasser, the wife of kidnapped Israeli soldier Ehud Goldwasser, stood before a group of visiting Americans in Haifa and told us about her determination to fight to bring him back, we felt her dread and admired her strength. She asked us to please help her, and we are.

We seek: Word of the physical condition of Ehud, and of Eldad Regev, who was snatched along with Goldwasser, and of Gilad Shalit, who was kidnapped in an earlier cross-border attack. We seek assurance of their safety and their swift return.

By the time this piece appears, we at the Jewish Federation of Central New Jersey, along with our partners across the state of New Jersey, from Bergen County to Monmouth County, will have stood with our elected officials, student activists, rabbis from every stream of Judaism, community leaders, and Israeli representatives to tell the world that it is unacceptable to keep these men in their black hole of captivity.

Why do we care so much about the plight of these three men, whose kidnapping, along with relentless barrages of missiles aimed at Israeli civilians, triggered a six-week war last summer?

It frustrates us that they remain captive in violation of international agreements outside the framework of recognized agencies. The Red Cross can’t contact them. Their families don’t know where they are, or if they are alive at all. Their captors are ignoring the United Nations resolution calling for their immediate, unconditional release (in the case of Goldwasser and Regev) and dismissing the efforts of negotiators and their colleagues (in the case of Shalit).

Karnit Goldwasser reminds us of Avital Sharansky, another young wife longing to start a family whose husband, Natan, was beyond her reach, held behind bars for the “crime” of being openly Jewish and wishing to live in Israel. But Avital, who spent nine years raising awareness about Natan’s imprisonment, knew where her refusenik husband was, and that he was alive. Who would have thought that we would one day long for an enemy with the civility of the Soviet regime? Yet when the Red Cross’ best efforts to determine if Ehud and Eldad are even alive are met with silence, we do.

Deepening our concern is the awareness of kidnapping and exile in Jewish history. The Romans bragged “Judea Capta” — Judea Captured — on coins they minted after destroying Jerusalem and enslaving the Jews 2,000 years ago, creating today’s Diaspora. The image on the coins, a weeping woman beneath a palm tree, was meant to break our spirits and our hearts. Roman art gloried in our bound men and women, destined for slavery and prostitution.

Jewish culture responded. We didn’t forget our captives; instead, we emphasized their redemption. Maimonides noted it as a duty above giving charity to the poor. In medieval times, pirates didn’t kill Jews aboard captured ships because they knew they’d get ransom for the Jews wherever they next docked. For centuries, particularly during the Nazi onslaught, Jewish communities set aside funds to try to free imprisoned Jews. The modern State of Israel has many times paid a price for each Jew allowed to immigrate.

When Karnit says, “I just want my husband back,” we understand, and we are responding. We want our sons, brothers, and husbands — Ehud, Eldad, and Gilad — back, too.