A new website for reciting Tehillim (Psalms} for sick people features a section for prayers on behalf of kidnapped soldier Gilad Schalit, while Hamas renews rumors on new talks for his release.
The website was put together by Barry Kupfer, who initiated the Gilad Schalit Worldwide Tehillim Project as part of his site that tracks the names of sick people for whom prayers are said for their recovery. The site also lets users know when to stop saying Tehillim, and lets synagogues create their own lists with their members being able to keep the records up to date.
Schalit was kidnapped by terrorists from the Army of Islam, the Popular Resistance Committees and Hamas in June 2006 during a deadly attack on an IDF checkpoint near Gaza, in which two soldiers were killed.
“The idea is that all of Tehillim should be recited every day until he is released,” according to Kupfer. “Users will need to register to the site and then can select an open section to recite. They can resign at any time. They will also get an email after 30 days asking them to confirm their participation.”
The new project comes as Hamas winds up the rumor clinic again with reports that it is resuming negotiations with a mediator and that Israel has agreed to free 20 terrorists “with blood on their hands” in return for Schalit. The soldier’s physical and psychological conditions are not known, and Hamas continues to defy the Geneva Convention by refusing visits by representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and communication with his family.
Israel previously has agreed to free nearly 1,000 terrorists, including many who were directly involved in murdering Israelis, but Hamas insisted that the terrorists be allowed to return to their homes in Judea and Samaria. The Cabinet in the Olmert administration, acting on the advice of security officials, rejected Hamas’ demand.
A report by the Arabic-language Al Quds Al-Arabi newspaper, based in London, stated that the 20 terrorists “with blood on their hands” would be deported elsewhere, as Israel originally demanded.
Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal said last week, "Shalit's release depends on the Israeli position. The ball is now in [Prime Minister Binyamin] Netanyahu's court.”
Although he said that Egypt is working behind the scenes in negotiations with Israel, the Chinese news agency Xinhua reported that Turkey is acting as mediator.