With changes to the itinerary our trip continued and while sitting on a grassy spot near Jerusalem, the same counselor whose friend was killed, told us he needed to go to the reserves, and within an hour he went to serve in the war. I have never been confronted with this kind of fear; my new Israeli friend was about to be fighting a war. My experience made me realize how precious life is.

When I returned home I knew that I could not let the image of my counselor going to war, the image of new graves in Mount Hertzel cemetery, and the weeping of my Israeli friends when their town was hit by Kaytusha rockets go unnoticed.

This is why I formed S.O.S. Save Our Soldiers. S.O.S. is a teen group to advocate for and secure the release of Ehud Goldwasser, Eldad Regev and Gilad Shalit.  This international youth movement also is dedicated to secure the return of five other Israeli MIA’s.  

In the past 16 months, S.O.S. has made incredible strides in hopes of freeing these soldiers.
We decided that our first course of action would be an attempt to pass a Resolution in the New Jersey State Legislature. We began contacting several members of the legislature in order to get their support.
In May 2007 on behalf of S.O.S. I testified in the both the Assembly and Senate. I urged my representatives to pass a resolution calling for the release of the soldiers mirroring U.N. Security Counsel Resolution 1701, which requires Hezbollah and Hamas to free the soldiers.

The week before I testified I had the privilege of meeting with Karnit Goldwasser, the wife of one of the soldiers. In my testimony I told our representatives her story and her unrelenting effort to free her husband and his comrades. Karnit’s, words served as a motivating force in all of our efforts. Her passion for freeing her husband made me understand the importance of S.O.S’s campaign. With her determination in mind I asked my representatives, representatives of the most powerful democratic country in the world to help me stand up for social justice and let the terrorists know that this abduction is wrong.

As a result of our efforts, the resolution was passed in June 2007 and New Jersey became the first state in what we hope will become a national plea, to bring these soldiers home.

On July 16, 2007 at the Free the Soldiers Rally in Dag Hammarksjold Plaza across from the United Nations I stood before 10,000 people shouting: “Free Them Now.”  I was on the podium standing beside Elie Wiesel, Karnit, Senator Tom Kean Jr., and other world leaders.  On behalf of S.O.S and all people supporting this cause, I read the petition addressed to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon demanding that the U.N. implement Security Counsel Resolution 1701 to free the soldiers.

All I could see were the words of the petition and the smiling faces of my friends proud of what we were doing. I knew that together we could change the world. At this point I realized what S.O.S. was all about, building relationships, networks of advocacy and an unending commitment by my generation to accelerate peace in the Middle East.  

NFTY has launched an S.O.S. resource center on their national website. The message on the website continues to spread the support for the cause and encourages teens in North America to join with S.O.S. to advocate for the release of the soldiers.

One of the initiatives on the NFTY website is the empty chair campaign. I would like to thank our synagogue for being part of the many synagogues who, over the year, talked about the plight of the soldiers and participated in the Empty Chair Campaign.

Over the summer I was a counselor at Eisner Camp. S.O.S. was embraced by the camp community.  Eisner sent over 100 campers and staff to the rally, Eisner had services honoring the soldiers and Eisner’s international staff joined all our efforts.

Since the summer, S.O.S. has continued as an active advocacy group, from speaking across from the UN again in October, to lobbying our congressman on capital hill, to being active leaders in the Metrowest community, and serving as a role model to hundreds of Jewish teens and adults.

This project has given me and all of S.O.S.’s members a chance to stand up for justice, to stand up for what we believe in, and not be a silent generation.
 
Currently in Israel Kassan rockets, like those that I witnessed in the summer of 2006 are being launched into Sderot daily. Recently S.O.S. had the privilege to hosting a community meeting to learn from two survivors of these attacks. I am confused and deeply saddened to hear about what is happening in Sderot but also I am frustrated – how can this continue to happen to our people? I am a student of the Holocaust, my history is made up of survivors.  I am a student of Darfur, of Cambodia and Somalia – yet this is my fight.  I care about all people who are being murdered and being terrorized.  But I must stand up for my people.

It is an honor to be here tonight and share with my congregation the impact that Israel has had on my life. It has ignited in me a passion for Israel, a passion for social justice and most importantly a passion for the FREEDOM OF ALL PEOPLE!

"To do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly before God," the late Union of the Reform Movement Rabbi Maurice Eisendrath observed: "To do justly, comes first."

These eight soldiers represent three sons, eight brothers, eight friends, but to me they also represent all people who are being held captive in the world.
 
S.O.S. is my distress call to the world, together we CAN FREE THEM NOW!!