As the second annual Unity Day drew to a climactic close, President Reuven and First Lady Nechama Rivlin on Wednesday evening 24 Iyar hosted the Jerusalem Unity Prize award ceremony at the President’s Residence.

The prize, awarded in the memory of the three boys Gilad Shaar, Naftali Frenkel, and Eyal Yifrach HY”D, who were kidnapped and murdered in June 2014, was established by Mayor of Jerusalem Nir Barkat, the charity established in memory of the boys (For the Sake of Peace at Home), and the Gesher organization.

The prize was awarded to honor organizations and individuals working for the sake of unity with the people of Israel, and in the Diaspora. Unity Day was held, for the second year, in partnership with the Knesset, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Social Equality, and other key stakeholders promoting unity in society.

“Two years ago, on the 15th of Sivan, (12 June 2014), the footsteps of Gilad Shaar, Naftali Frenkel, and Eyal Yifrach vanished,” began the President in his address. He continued, “Three beautiful flowers, who are hearts still refuse to accept are no longer with us. For 18 days, our hearts swung between hope and despair. For 18 days, we all came together as one, with one shared hope and care. For 18 days, we set aside that which we usually disagree upon, and become one people. Our soldiers, our police forces, our intelligence services, and many wonderful volunteers, searched for the boys, they did not leave a stone unturned. Ultimately, we received the terrible news, and together we accompanied them on their final journey. For those terrible 18 days, we learned not only their shining faces, but we discovered the wonderful environments in which they had grown up, from where they were taken – their beautiful and exemplary families who served for all of us as a model of tolerance, maturity, and responsibility, that often seems we lack in our day to day discussions here. Gilad, Naftali, and Eyal’s parents taught us mutuality and responsibly. They taught us about the great strength of many hands joined together, about the deep bonds which tie us all together.”

The President recalled, “Upon the first anniversary of the boys kidnapping, we stood challenged by what to do to ensure the ‘togetherness’, that unity, would not remain just a fading memory of what was. The Jerusalem Unity Prize, and Jerusalem Unity Day which we mark today, is a day which asks of us to preserve that ‘togetherness’, this time out of choice. I view with admiration the work of the prize recipients. I think that all of us can and should learn from them. The uniqueness of this day, is that today we are not ashamed to put the many divisions behind us, and to begin to think of unity as a practical value. To consider, how can we promote it in practice, everyday throughout the calendar. This day cannot be left to stand alone, disconnected from the rest of the year. With the help of each of you sitting here, this day is intended as a high point of the rest of the year, a pinnacle of activity, of kindness, of mutual trust, and looking favorably upon all components of this people.”

The President concluded, “I hope and wish with all my heart that this day will be instilled in our hearts, and in the annual calendar of every citizen of Israel, and that in another few years we will look at ourselves, and will wonder how we ever managed without this important day. May the day come when, as Rabbi Kook wrote, “All mankind will live as one family, each of us will meet and know each other, each will pursue the best interests of their fellow, with the duty to love and honor one’s fellow – irrelevant of race of nationality”. May the memory of the boys be blessed.”

Initiator of the Jerusalem Unity Prize, Mayor Nir Barkat addressed the event and said, “During those difficult days of uncertainty about the fate of the three boys, we saw all the people of Israel – secular, ultra-Orthodox, young and old, on the right and on the left – praying together, shoulder to shoulder, in an extraordinary display of the strength of Israel’s unity. Days later, during the week of shiva for the boys, I felt the bridges that the families had built between the different sectors of Israeli society, especially at the most difficult of times, must be preserved, and that we must build other such bridges. I am pleased that we have succeeded in this shared and important mission, and I hope that this moment represents a fitting memorial to the memory of those beloved sons. From Jerusalem, the city which brings all Israel together, goes forth today a message of the bonds that connect us all, Israel and the Diaspora.”

Ofir Shaar, father of Gilad, said in his address, “From ‘Return our brothers’ to ‘We are all brothers’, at this moving ceremony when we feel both pain and joy together, we are fortunate to mark for the second year Unity Day, and to award the Jerusalem Unity Prize for the second year, at the President’s Residence. The prize recipients are for all of us, a beacon of welcome action for the sake of unity in the day to day lives of Israeli society and the Jewish people as a whole. We all hope, despite the crises and challenges before us, this activity will have wide impact in Israel and outside of Israel for years to come.”

This year’s winners included the Global Schools Twinning Project, an initiative of the Jewish Agency’s Partnership Together, Hapoel Katamon Sports Club which used athletics to bring together diverse groups within Jerusalem society, Kesher Yehudi (The Jewish Connection), which works to bridge social gaps between Israel’s secular and Haredi populations, and the youth programs of Bnei Akiva together with the Noar Haoved V’Halomed and Dror Yisrael, which united youth of diverse backgrounds in cultural and social programming.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem/Photo: Haim Zach,GPO)