This week is a period of intense mourning, as the parents, siblings and grandparents of the eight young students who were murdered in cold blood during the terror attack at Yeshivat Merkaz Harav sit shiva and are offered comfort by those closest to them and their children.

It is also a time when our communities, schools, youth organizations and campus students can decide what would be the most appropriate way to offer their support. Some have already organized prayer gatherings, public meetings and rallies, but there is also a lot that can be done on a modest scale and as part of a process that will strengthen both the Israeli families in this time of great difficulty and the connection of the Jewish community in the Diaspora to Israel.

1. On Thursday, when the families get up from the week of shiva, we ask schools and communities to add a tefillah, a special prayer, for the recovery of the wounded and to hold a memorial ceremony for the eight innocent victims of the pigu'a.

2. In terms of offering a more personal support and connection with the victims' families: schools, student groups, and communities can write letters directly to them, expressing their feelings of identification and sympathy.

3. Jewish student groups and youth organizations should hold internal activities for their members.

4. On university campuses, Jewish student organizations and Hillel shlichim can focus on a campaign using the resources provided, to get the word out. While this is also designed to strengthen Israel's profile on campus, the innocent victims should be at the centre of the debate on fundamentalist Islamic terrorism.

5. At the same time, both Jewish student groups and youth organizations should coordinate their participation in rallies, demonstrations, etc., with the Israel Consulate and the Jewish Federations and community. It would be useful if they could assist with the preparation of banners, slogans, Israeli flags, etc., and prepare notices and communiques for the media, in close coordination with the steering committee.

6. Jewish students and youth leaders are major purveyors of blogs and active participants in online communities, which provide an important channel for all your pro-Israel messages and notices.

7. We ask the organizers of major public events – demonstrations, protests, rallies – to envision as wide a participation as possible, in order to make the statement that we share common values and are standing together to make a strong statement of solidarity:

• There should be a strong presence of Jewish women's organizations;
• Organizations outside the Jewish community should be invited to participate;
• As mentioned, notices – along with invitations and appropriate arrangements - should be sent to / made for the Jewish and general media.

8. We recommend that communities and organizations also deliver letters of protest (where possible) to the Syrian and Iranian Ambassadors, condemning their continued support for terror in the strongest possible terms.

9. Finally, we ask that each event be documented visually and a summary be written for the appropriate website, with a copy to be emailed for the Jewish Agency website.