Dear Yarden,

We all watched
We all heard
We all read
We all cried with you, for you, for us
We all know you
We all love you

You are our son, our brother, our nephew
We, all of us, wrap our collective arms around you
Just as your beautiful Shiri did for those beautiful babies
To protect you
To comfort you
To show you you are not alone
Never alone

Every kind of Jew is surrounding you now
Israeli and chutznik
Religious and secular
Old and young
Right and left
Today it doesn’t matter

All that matters
Is how we care for one another
Like no one else does
We stand up for each other
Like no other nation
We are one family with one beating heart

And today that heart is broken

We will not forsake you, Yarden
And we will never, ever forget
Your beautiful, precious Shiri
And your sweet beautiful boys Ariel and Kfir

We will say their names
For they are ours too

With love,
An entire nation
From all over the Jewish world