Let’s cherish the moment

Op-ed: Before debating Shalit deal’s price, let’s cherish rare moment of collective joy

Reuters | Published: 10.13.11, 00:16

For one small and magical moment, a national day of mourning was declared here for our oh-so-crude cynicism. It appears we shall remember this moment until our last breath – just like Rabin’s assassination, the Iraqi missile attacks or the news about Nachshon Wachsman, may he rest in peace.

Yet unlike the abovementioned moments, the news of Gilad Shalit’s release, which came out of nowhere, gave rise to a pure moment of joy, of pure, Jewish mutual responsibility and of togetherness – just like the dancing that swept the streets when the State of Israel’s establishment was declared.

Every time I was on my way to Jerusalem’s Paris Square, a hidden force would pull me to every other street, just so I avoid the street where the Shalit protest tent was erected. Just so I avoid encountering the faces of Noam and Aviva Shalit. Every time I would sneak a peek at the tent and see Noam and Aviva engulfed in their noble and un-Israeli silence, facing the most public loneliness in the state’s history, I learned a lesson for life.

A lesson about perspective, about suffering and pain, about restraint and coping, and about people characterized as seculars, hoping and praying – I have no idea to whom. Turns out that God is not strict when it comes to matters of the heart.

I assume that too many people are currently sitting at the IDF and Shin Bet headquarters and urgently searching for some painkillers. They are trying to estimate how much this deal will really cost us and whether it was the right move – yet this is a matter for the commentators.

Tears in our eyes

We, the regular folk and mostly the Jerusalemites among us, those who opposed the move and those who endorsed it, merely wish to inhale and enjoy this magical moment for a little longer.

We wanted to see our abducted soldiers here, yet we got coffins. We so much wanted to see Ron Arad, yet we got despair. We still want to see Jonathan Pollard – yet every time we get another stab in our wounded heart.

So even though the news on Gilad’s release marked the beginning of debates and speculations about the price, people, please, let us enjoy for a few more minutes this magic of mutual responsibility, tears in our eyes, and the greatest joy there is; the joy of seeing our child returning home in one piece.

After he is back here, safe and embraced by Aviva - who involuntarily became a symbol of a suffering mother - we can go back to the insane and cruel reality of our familiar blood game. For the time being, let’s cherish this moment, because we don’t have many like it.