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Nov 20, 2012 · Md. Residents With Ties To Israel-Hamas Conflict Pray For Peace. November 20, 2012 / 6:43 PM EST / CBS Baltimore. BALTIMORE COUNTY, Md. (WJZ) -- A cease-fire may be getting...
Oct 18, 2023 · The enormous violence and rhetoric surrounding the Israeli-Hamas conflict in the Middle East has sparked conversations in the U.S., igniting faith leaders to advocate from the pulpit and prioritizing prayer. While a common thread for the religious leaders is pushing for peace, some vary in how they view the war, leading to disagreements.
Oct 15, 2023 · In Shabbat services worldwide, Jews grieve and pray for peace as Israel battles Hamas. Pittsburgh rabbi in sermon: ‘It isn’t that Hamas wants the destruction of Israel. It’s that...
- Overview
- A very challenging moment for the Jewish people
Jews in communities far from Israel gathered at synagogues this weekend for their first Shabbat services since Hamas militants attacked Israel, igniting an ongoing war. Rabbis led prayers of peace and shared grief with their congregations. At many synagogues security was tight.
The deadly Hamas attack is not just another geopolitical event for Jewish people, explained one U.S. rabbi. It is drudging up generations of visceral trauma, especially in Pittsburgh – the city scarred by the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history.
"More Jews were killed last Shabbat … than on any other day since the Holocaust," said Rabbi Daniel Fellman of Temple Sinai, during the first service following the violence in Israel. "It isn't that Hamas wants the destruction of Israel. It's that Hamas wants the destruction of you and me."
"The world deserves better, the Palestinian people deserve better and we need to do better."
Despite that anguish, Fellman's congregation – and others across the world – heeded the words of an Israeli soldier who had urged worshippers "to go sing and dance, go make sure that every person in the world hears us singing this prayer this Shabbat."
Fellman preached on the biblical story of the first murder – that of Abel by his brother Cain – and urged an understanding that all people are siblings, including Jews, Christians and Muslims.
Police in Germany's capital, Berlin, visibly increased security in front of synagogues as worshippers flocked to Shabbat prayer services.
The heightened safety measures come in reaction to global tensions triggered by Hamas' attack, and Israel's subsequent bombing of Gaza, as well as calls on social media to violently protest in front of Jewish institutions in Germany.
At Berlin's Chabad community in Berlin's Wilmersdorf neighborhood, the street leading to the synagogue and adjacent community center was blocked to traffic. Police and private security service patrolled on the sidewalk as congregants arrived at the house of worship.
Some men wore their yarmulkes hidden under baseball hats, while others didn't wear any skullcaps until they entered the synagogue.
Rabbi Yehuda Teichtal, head of the local Chabad community, told The Associated Press on Friday evening that "this is a very challenging moment for the Jewish people."
"At the same time we will stand together with resilience and complete trust in God for a positive future," Teichtal added. "There is nothing more than the terrorists want than to demoralize us — they've achieved the opposite."
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Apr 10, 2024 · Tension at Al-Aqsa Mosque is deepening with each day of the Israel-Hamas war. Palestinian women pray outside the Dome of the Rock in East Jerusalem during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, on ...
Oct 16, 2023 · The conflict in Israel and Gaza has brought grief and pain to many Jews and Muslims in the U.S.. All Things Considered invited a rabbi and an imam to share how they are counseling their ...
Oct 10, 2023 · On Friday night, missiles and armed tanks from the Palestinian militant group Hamas from Gaza, marked yet another escalation in the decadeslong conflict between Palestine and Israel. Since...
