Hostage Families Forum: "Come to the biggest saying of Shema in history"

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum is changing tack, calling for a mass prayer at the Western Wall next Thursday (21/3) on Taanit Esther, in what they call “the largest reading of Shema in the history of the Jewish People.”

During the event, the Rabbi of the Kotel and representatives of the families of the hostages and missing will say a collective prayer in the presence of tens of thousands of people at the Western Wall plaza and directly broadcast to and with the participation of Jewish communities around the world.

The prayer will take place at precisely 5:30 PM Israel time, in Israel and around the world – every Jew as such can participate and say Shema to return the hostages and protect the soldiers.

“We call on all the Jewish People to set their disputes aside and unite”

The Forum explained that the goal of the event is the creation of a collective cry by the Jewish People in Israel and abroad for the sake of the hostages, missing, and soldiers.

The Forum said that: “from October 7, we are in the heart of an ongoing storm. The hostages have been in the heart of Gaza for over 150 days for one reason only – because they are Israelis. The call of Shema is one of the clearest markers of Judaism, which we are proud of and take pride in, and it is the root of our right to exist here.

“We call on all the People of Israel, from all ends of the spectrum, to set aside their disputes and unite for a moment around our shared common denominator – our being Jews. For the return of the hostages and the missing, for the well-being of the soldiers, and the health of the wounded.”