Ari Sprung

הלוואי ואצליח שהטקסט הזה יגיע הכי קרוב שאפשר לנווט שחולץ ולמקבלי ההחלטות אשמח לשיתופים Last Friday, just before the start of Shabbat, I went to what I consider the holiest spot in the children’s hospital, the small corner where Jewish mothers come to light Shabbat candles. These are mothers whose children are fighting cancer and other serious illnesses. I watched them stand there, praying over the candlelight for mercy and healing for their child. With every whispered prayer I heard, I also saw their tears fall, but in my heart, I felt those tears rising straight up to heaven. Over time, it has become my own weekly ritual: every Friday, when I come to bring Lego sets to the kids in the hospital, I stop and watch these mothers pray with such strength and pain. This past Friday, I brought a Winnie the Pooh Lego set with me. I stood near the candles, and this time I found myself crying too. Gazing at the flames, I began to pray: “Please, God, I beg You, bring him back safely.” Unlike other missing soldiers of Israel where I know their names and families, I don’t even know this American navigator’s name. But I decided to pray for him anyway. As he flies through the sky on his mission, I feel that he is in God’s hands. I thought about President Trump; How much must weigh on his mind, How much effort is likely being invested into finding this missing U.S. navigator, What he might be doing right now to bring him home. I see this navigator as a son of God Brave enough to go out on a mission to protect us, Am Yisrael, Carrying with him the values of the United States of America. Holding the Winnie the Pooh Lego box, I made a promise: If this American navigator returns safely, I will donate $180 to tzedakah, and I will buy another Lego set for a child battling cancer. I have already donated once in his merit, and I will donate again to give thanks when he comes home. You might ask: why Winnie the Pooh? In the film *Goodbye Christopher Robin*, there is a scene where a soldier is missing in war. His parents receive a message that he is missing and assume he has been killed. After a long time, the soldier suddenly returns home alive. That story stayed with me. President Trump has already done a great deal to help bring our hostages home and has supported the Israeli government and our Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. I believe he needs and deserves our prayers now, for the safe return of this missing American navigator. So today, when I go back to the children’s hospital To that place where women light Shabbat candles with tears in their eyes I will choose a boy or girl to receive the Winnie the Pooh Lego set, And I will give it with a prayer and intention that God will help bring the missing American navigator home. God bless America.