Video with Hebrew commentary:
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum will host a global hour of Jewish unity and prayer at the Western Wall, that will be live broadcast worldwide on Thursday from 4:30 p.m. until 5:30 p.m. (Israel time.) The event will give a voice to the hostage families who will be telling their stories on the live broadcast. It will conclude with a united moment of prayer and solidarity, with millions of Jews from around the world reciting the Shema prayer in unison at 5:30 p.m.
"Shema Yisrael, Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem Echad" - these words are known to every Jew almost from birth. These are the words that accompany us all in moments of joy and often in times of hardship and distress," said the Hostages and Missing Families Forum
For one moment of global unity, the entire Jewish people in Israel and around the world will unite, Thursday, the Fast of Esther, on 21.03 at 5:30 PM, and together they will recite the prayer.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog announced that he will participate in the event at the Western Wall. "I will also join the entire Jewish people, in the Fast of Esther and in reciting 'Shema Yisrael' for the return of all the hostages, for the recovery of the wounded and for the safety of our soldiers and heroes, and for unity between the people of Israel in Israel and throughout the whole world."
"Our strength is in our unity,” said Chaim Yitzchak Or, the brother of Avinatan Or who was kidnapped by Hamas and is still being held in Gaza. “We are asking the general public to stand by our side and pray for the speedy release of all the Hostages, on this special day."
"The Jewish people live and breathe their heritage,” Chaim Yitzchak said. “Just like Queen Esther, who was a hostage herself, and sought help by uniting all Jews for a single cause, so to today we will come together and recite the Shema Yisrael prayer on the same day that Esther did. We yearn for the unity of the entire people in a joint prayer to bring about once again the return of all our brothers and sisters held captive by the Hamas terror organization. The unity in Esther's time resulted in a monumental victory over the hatred and antisemitism perpetrated by Haman and we hope for a similar result and the return of our hostages so that they can all be brought home now. Today, we are all Queen Esther.”