Global Jewish Unity Day 3.98

In June 2014, on a balmy summer Thursday evening, three teenage boys waited at a bus stop near their school. They were on their way home for the weekend.
They were not soldiers. They were not armed.
They were boys bringing home laundry and looking forward to their mothers' Shabbat dinners.

While waiting for a ride to the bus station, they were kidnapped by two members of Hamas.

For 18 days, the Jewish world held its collective breath and waited for the boys to be returned.

On June 30th, as part of the IDF's concentrated effort to locate the boys, their bodies were discovered in a field northwest of Hebron. They had been murdered shortly after the abduction.

Naftali Fraenkel (16), Gil-ad Shaer (16), and Eyal Ifrach (19) were laid to rest and mourned worldwide.

Since the entire Jewish world clasped its hands in anguished worry together, it then grieved together. The boys' families received an unprecedented outpouring of solidarity and the Israeli concept of "chizuk" (loosely translated, it means strength, support and encouragement). Never before had the Jewish world stood up, embraced one another, and crossed the lines of division that usually separate. The boys' families collected letters, messages, videos, calls and cards from secular, Reconstructionist, Charedi, Reform, Conservative, Modern Orthodox, non-practicing, Humanist, Ashkenazi, Sephardi, Chabad, Breslev, Chardal and other Jews from every corner of the globe. Everyone joined together in support.

For 18 days, the Jewish world was united.
The familial feeling of inclusion - of oneness - of sameness - of being Jewish first, and the explanation of how our Jewishness manifests itself, second. Categories, definitions and divisions were temporarily assigned a lower level of significance. For 18 days, we were one.

Mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat, approached the families in their time of darkness with a proposal of light. Of hope. Recognizing the incredible strength of the unity felt worldwide during the search for their children, Mayor Barkat, always a champion of pluralism and inclusion, proposed a way to capture and elongate that feeling of Jewish unity.

In memory of Naftali, Gilad and Eyal, and in recognition of those working toward the goal of unifying Jews of all nationalities, lifestyles and beliefs - those who dedicate their lives to maintaining the feeling of unity in their own diverse communities - Mayor Barkat proposed the first annual Jerusalem Unity Prize.