מי כעמך ישראל - The magnificent people of Am Yisroel!

Out of the ashes of Gush Katif, the glowing embers of the world's most noble people illuminate the world. The day's images from Gush Katif include soldiers joining anti-withdrawal protesters in prayer before evicting them; an elderly rabbi hugging a Torah scroll as he's being escorted away; a young man reading from his prayer book as soldiers carry him to a bus. Only in Israel, can you find border police gently loading diapers and toys onto buses for evacuation. Few of the soldiers, neither men nor women, performed their duties with dry eyes. There is no nation like you, Israel! Thank you, dear G-d, for giving me the privilege of being a part of these magnificent people.

The old addage says that a picture is worth 10,000 words. Here are a few, courtesy of Reuters via my friends at Yahoo.com:

IDF Major comforting a young lieutenant, nauseated from the task at hand

Some of the soldiers cried harder than the settlers they were evacuating

Brothers and comrades, under the hardest of circumstances

Everything else burns, but the Sefer Torah and the Jewish soul are eternal

Tattered, torn, but still flying