The following open letter was penned by Assaf Yafin, an educational consultant who participated in the struggle to save Amona.
To our dear, dear youth; our magnificent young men and women:
We saw you on Amona's freezing yet warm streets, we saw you in Whatsapp groups dedicated to the struggle and the unforgettable atmosphere you created.
We've seen you for the past two months: So full of conviction, so good, so excited, so active, so pure.
We saw the amazing posts you wrote afterwards. You have such big hearts!
But those hearts are now hollow. The anger and frustration about how it ended. All other things seem so silly now.
And now what shall you do? After such a stormy experience, to return to yeshiva/ulpana - and no one understands you; parents, teachers, friends. Everyone's stuck in their routine, maybe they'll listen to you for ten minutes but then they get bored; they do not begin to understand what has happened to you, and you are left alone with a storm and nowhere to put it and a big hole in your heart.
Do I have anything to go back to? Will anyone even understand me? Is anything worth it anymore?
It's okay to cry, it's okay to sleep, it's okay to lock yourself in your room, it's okay to make up a song, it's okay to play music, it is okay to pray. You should still try to share with those who were not there. You will find that there are people who want to listen.
Do not stay alone! Friend / Teacher / Parent / Adviser / Facebook / Whatsapp - there must be someone! And a diary is always willing to listen - it's okay and you should!
And then? Then we get up. Then everyone is invited to ask himself:
What strengths did I discover within myself that I did not know about?
What amazing strengths did I see in my friends, friends who I thought were just "regular"?
How do I take the great spirit that I found there and make sure it doesn't get lost?
How do I take the greatness I discovered within and put it into my gray everyday life?
What can I do with the forces I found within myself, to make sure unnecessary and bad and stupid things like this never happen again?
How do I not give up, and begin a journey of thinking, searching, and doing
What can I do so that my people will go only in a positive direction and will become only better and stronger?
And so, with a broken and hollow heart we walk around, with an empty soul. Everything is broken but not hopeless. I am not alone and I am not finished. Like the tree outside in my garden freezing from the frost but beginning to flower thanks to the cold. We know that the most beautiful flowers are now beginning to sprout within us.
That personality, the one with the most wonderful character traits, the one that just got a most stinging slap in the face, the one that is feeling really cold right now, is going to begin to blossom and grow.