Help Gilad Shalit, Shlit"a - Torah in Merit of his Safe Release

Above: Gilad Shalit - Gilad ben Aviva (Israeli soldier currently held by the arab terrorists, yimach shimam)

In situations such as these (may the Jewish People be spared of such things in the future), many people may ask themselves what can be done to help bring about the safe return of our brother, Gilad ben Aviva. As members of the Jewish People, each of us has an obligation to do what we can to help Gilad, Shlit"a.

What can be done?

Firstly, each of us should put aside time each day to say tehillim (psalms) for Gilad ben Aviva, asking HaShem to release him from his captors to safety. The tehillim below are what I would recommend to say for Gilad ben Aviva:

Repentance on our part would help Gilad. The following tehillim are for help with repentance: 51 and 90
For help in troublesome times: 20,38,85,86,102,130,142

2. Set aside time to learn Torah in the merit of Gilad's safe release. Please set aside at least 5 to 15 minutes per day, the more the better. Torah learning is a powerful way to help Gilad. The Zohar HaKadosh teaches that HaShem Looked into the Torah and Created the Universe. The universe exists due to the power of Torah and Torah learning. Surely learning some Torah for Gilad ben Aviva will be a powerful tool to guarantee his safe return home.

3. Determine one mitzah that you can improve upon. Do so in the merit (or partially in the merit) of the release of Gilad.

4. Say Perek Shirah. Perek Shirah, according to the MaBI"T, has a greater power than reciting the entire Book of Psalms and helps saves people from trouble. (Remember, if you print out the Perek Shirah, do not dispose of it, either keep it, give it to someone else, or throw it in a geniza.)

5. Encourage others to adopt a Torah lifestyle and stand up for the Torah in the face of those who wish to trample on what it stands for. Whether it be encouraging people to keep Shabbos or showing your opposition to events that go contrary to the Torah such as the "Impurade 2006".

Tomorrow I plan on adding some Torah thoughts relating to the situation of Gilad ben Aviva, shlit"a. Hopefully he will already have been released to safety before then, if not, the power of learning and spreading that Torah, im yirtzeh HaShem, should help.

Keep up the good work and may we all merit to see Gilad ben Aviva returned home happy and healthy, speedily and in our days, Amen!