This is a prayer of rejoicing, with a somber note that Gilad Shalit will need time to heal. It includes two stanzas to honor all the defenders of Israel and uses a line from Birkot Hashachar as the chatimah, the seal ending the prayer. The URJ has also posted this prayer to its blog.

Gilad, Home at Last
With your feet on the soil of our ancestors,
The land sings.
With your return to the home of our people,
The nation exalts.
As you enter the house of your parents,
Your kin weep.
When you build a new life
And take your place with your generation,
Am Yisroel will delight.

We will never forget the defenders of Israel.
We will never forget the guardians of Zion.
We will never forget the sentries of Am Kadosh.

G-d who frees the slave and liberates the captive,
We rejoice at this homecoming.
Grant Gilad Shalit a complete restoration from his isolation,
So that he knows joy and celebration.
Ease his burdens.
Release him from suffering.
Return him in wholeness to life.

We stand with the defenders of Israel.
We honor the guardians of Zion.
We hold dear the sentries of Am Kadosh.

G-d of Old,
You have returned this son of Israel to our people.
Now, bless him with all of Your gifts:
Vitality, energy, happiness and peace.

.ברוך אתה ה אלוקינו מלך העולם מתיר אסורים
Blessed are you, Adonai our God,
Sovereign of universe,
who releases the captive.

© 2011 Alden Solovy and www.tobendlight.com. All rights reserved

Postscript: In many ways, it seems to me, a prayer for Gilad is a prayer for us all. Here are two prayers for Israel: “Israel: A Meditation” and “A Song that Holds My Heart,” a prayer/song about Hatikvah. This prayer is an adaptation of one I wrote when news was annouced that he would be headed home, called “Prayer for Gilad’s Homecoming.” Here are additional prayers about Israel.

If you like this prayer, post a link to your Facebook page, to your blog or as part of a tweet. And don’t forget to click “like” on this page. Thanks. Please subscribe. For reprint permissions, see “Share the Prayer!” in the right hand column.

We have learned about hope. We can’t help it, yet until Gilad Shalit is back in Israel – alive and in the arms of his family – we worry, wait and hold our breath. We want this hope. We remember, too, that our hopes for Gilad, for our people, for peace, have been dashed so many times. My answer, of course, is prayer.

Addendum, 10/18/2011: With Gilad home, also see a new prayer “Gilad, Home at Last.”

Prayer for Gilad’s Homecoming
When you set foot on the soil of our ancestors
The land will sing.
When you return to the home of our people
The nation will exalt.
When you enter the house of your parents
Your kin will weep.
When you heal from the wounds of captivity
Am Yisroel will rejoice.

G-d who frees the slave and liberates the captive,
Grant Gilad Shalit this promised homecoming,
So that our hopes are fulfilled and that his recovery can begin.
Grant him a complete restoration from his years in solitude and isolation,
Away from his land and his nation, his family and his people,
So that he knows joy and celebration.
Ease his burdens.
Release him from suffering.
Return him in wholeness to life.

G-d of Old,
Return this son of Israel to our people.
Bless us with this reunion.
Bless him with all of Your gifts:
Vitality, energy, happiness and peace.

© 2011 Alden Solovy and www.tobendlight.com. All rights reserved

Postscript: In many ways, it seems to me, a prayer for Gilad is a prayer for us all. Here are two prayers for Israel: “Israel: A Meditation” and “For Peace in the Middle East.” Here are additional prayers about Israel.

If you like this prayer, post a link to your Facebook page, to your blog or as part of a tweet. And don’t forget to click “like” on this page. Thanks. Please subscribe. For reprint permissions, see “Share the Prayer!” in the right hand column.