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Overcast Op-Ed
What the Law of Return really means
By Stuart Katz
Written Wednesday morning, July 16, shortly after the bodies of IDF soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev were returned to Israel for burial.
As a young child, as a teenager, as a student and as a professional I have heard and seen so many take advantage of Israel's "Law of Return," which states that every Jew can return home. They have done so by immigrating from over 100 nations.
Never did I truly understand what the law meant until this morning when I saw the bodies returned. The people of Israel, even when in bitter disagreement, will do all that is necessary to bring their people home. This is the Law of Return. This is what we can take pride in as a people, and as a nation. This is what Udi and Eldad have left with us: pride in our own. For this pride we shed a tear; for our loss we shed a tear.
We don't take interest in the politics or the politicians. We have no interest at this moment in what was required for the exchange or what the cost was. We care only that Udi and Eldad have returned home and that their families can give them what they deserve. Whatever the rate, it is worth it. Karnit Goldwasser cooked Udi's favorite supper when he and Eldad were due to return home on July 12, 2006. The supper was never served, but the hope that the story generated has proven to be priceless.
As the bodies are brought to their final and proper rest, the stories, the memories, the hope and the work of the past two years will live forever. The lessons are eternal and the tears everlasting.
