“Unity does not mean that we all must hold the same views, convictions and ideologies. It does mean love of a Jew for his fellow Jew.”The words are from Esther Wachsman, mother of Nachshon Wachsman, who was kidnapped and murdered by Hamas, a Palestinian terrorist group, in 1995.Esther, as a gesture of her commitment to Jewish unity, will come from Israel to Ohio State to help kick-off the “Unite to Light” project, sponsored by the Schottenstein Chabad House.”Promoting Jewish unity in a time when the Jewish world is somewhat fractured is extremely important to us,” said Areyah Kaltman, executive director of the Chabad House.Esther will speak on Jewish unity tonight at 8 p.m. in the Ohio Union. The event is free and open to the public.”I don’t know of a more qualified person than Esther Wachsman to discuss a personal tragedy and make it an opportunity for all people to come together,” said Kaltman.Esther gave the ultimate sacrifice that two years ago bonded the Jewish nation, said Kaltman.As her son was being held captive, she spoke regularly to her nation through the media, requesting that her fellow citizens and neighbors pray each and every day for her son to be returned home unharmed.The same night her son was murdered, Esther asked that each home light a Shabbat candle, at the same moment, for her son, as a gesture of unity by all the people in the land. “Our country’s Shabbat candles have become yarzeit candles (symbolizing those in mourning),” she said after learning of her son’s death.Kaltman said “Her son had become all of Israel’s son in a short time.”Nachshon’s funeral was attended by hundreds of thousands of Jews from all walks of life. Esther believed the Israelis would not accept the threat to a son of their land. The courage and faith of Esther Wachsman brought a unity that Israel had not experienced in a very long time, Kaltman said.”No one in Israel’s history was able to unite the people the way she did,” Kaltman said.Esther said she is speaking to OSU students because they are the age her son would have been. She also hopes to reach many more students here than she would have had she gone to another, smaller university.”It is this spirit of encouraging all Jews to be the best Jew each of them can be, that is the impulse for my visit to OSU,” Esther said.Esther said that she received more than 25,000 support letters, many of which came with family photos and candles for her son. The outpouring of love and support from all over the world was incredible, she said.