Parents of Kidnapped Students Heartened by ‘Book of Mitzvot’
Books including more than 3,000 pledges of acts of kindness delivered to students’ families
Chabad.org Staff | June 22, 2014 6:11 PM
Uriel and Iris Yiftach examine the "Book of Mitzvot," containing thousands of pledges of acts of kindness and prayer.
The parents of three yeshivah students kidnapped by terrorists in Israel said they were “deeply heartened” when they were presented with books containing more than 3,000 pledges of acts of kindness and prayer that have been received on a special web page created by Chabad.org
It was an extremely moving visit for the parents of Eyal Yifrach, Naftali Frenkel and Gilad Shaar, as well for as the rabbis who visited them. Over the past week, more than 4,200 pledges have been received, and on Sunday, books containing some 3,000 of those pledges compiled late last week were delivered to the boys’ families by a delegation of rabbis organized by Chabad Terror Victims Project, an initiative of the Lubavitch Youth Organization in Israel that helps terror victims and their families.
“This is the most moving thing that we have received until now,” said Avi Frenkel, whose wife, Rachel, added that “this is exactly what we wanted, for people to increase mitzvot in their merit.” Bat Galim Shaar noted that “receiving this book was the most important thing for us.”
“Needless to say, they were all very emotional visits,” said Rabbi Menachem Kutner, director of the project. “But the families are strong and are giving off a very positive attitude, and actually are giving strength to everyone around them.”
“It was very powerful to see their reaction to the books, especially when we showed them that the mitzvot came from all over the world,” added Rabbi Yossi Swerdlov, who along with Kutner was joined by Rabbi Aharon Prus of Tzerei Agudat Chabad Headquarters Israel; Rabbi EliezerShemtov, director of Chabad of Uruguay; and Rabbi Yankel Kagen, director of Chabad of Contra Costa, Calif. “The parents were all visibly moved and extremely grateful,” said Swerdlov. ”All of them said how important it is for people to continue to do mitzvot in honor of the students.”
Iris Yiftach noted that of all the intelligence she is receiving from the defense establishment, she knows that “the true solution and the true ‘intelligence’ ” is to be found in the book of mitzvot that she received. “This is a book that pleads directly to Hashem. We will keep it with Eyal’s things and show it to him when he returns, with G‑d’s help.”
Readers can continue to “pledge a mitzvah” on the students’ behalf here.
When doing a good deed, please have in mind their names:
Yaakov Naftali ben Rachel Devorah
Gilad Michael ben Bat Galim
Eyal ben Iris Teshura
