On this Passover, we remember the prisoners

Tonight marks the first night of Passover. Richard Baehr forwarded to me a special prayer to include in tonight’s ceremony, and I pass it on to you:

A Passover Prayer for Israel’s Missing Soldiers

As we gather to celebrate this Festival of Freedom, let us recall those who have their freedom denied to them.

As we sit with our families at our Seder Table, let us have in mind those families whose table will not be complete.

As we tell the story of our ancestor’s exodus from slavery, let us remember the Israeli soldiers who were kidnapped while protecting Eretz Yisrael and are now sitting in captivity.

Our God and God of our ancestors, before we begin our Passover Seder, we pray to you to have mercy and protect:

Gilad ben Aviva (Shalit)
Ehud ben Malka (Goldwasser)
Eldad ben Tova (Regev)
Zecharia Shlomo ben Miriam (Baumel)
Tzvi ben Penina (Feldman)
Yekutiel Yehuda Nachman ben Sara (Katz)
Ron ben Batya (Arad)
Guy ben Rina (Hever)

Redeem them from amongst the kidnapped, and take them from slavery to freedom, from servitude to redemption, from darkness to light, and fully heal their wounds. Give them courage and spirit and strengthen their resilience.

Just as our Seder does not conclude until the Afikoman is found and returned to our table, we hope and pray that these eight soldiers will soon be returned safely to their families so that they may taste the next Passover meal in freedom and with dignity.

Amen.