Communal Gathering

We, like so many of you, woke up Saturday morning (on a Shabbat marking 50 years since the Yom Kippur war began) to the horrifying news reports of the surprise ground and air attack on Israel by Hamas. On what was supposed to be a festive and celebratory day of Simchat Torah, our hearts break as we pray for those who have been wounded and kidnapped, for those being held hostage, and for the families of those who have been murdered, and for those who remain unaccounted for.

In the face of such tragedy, it is natural to feel a range of emotions – anger, sadness, anxiety, fear – and we also find a measure of comfort in the strength and resilience of our people throughout history. Now more than ever, we can stand together as a unified community, offering comfort and support to each other. We stand in solidarity and support with the people of Israel, so many of whom remain in harm’s way, and we extend our prayers for safety to all who are being called on to defend the State of Israel.

There will be increased security present through our partnership with JFED Security and the Cherry Hill Police Department, and we encourage you to plan to arrive early as we will begin promptly.

For those interested in donating to organizations providing aid in Israel, we wanted to provide a few options:

Kehillat YOZMA Modiin
https://yozma.org.il/en/support

In the Psalms we read, “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat, sat and wept, as we thought of Zion.”

At this time, as we hold so many emotions and seek the presence of community, we come together to mourn the lives lost and to pray for healing of the wounded.  We pray, too, for those defending Israel and for the safe redemption of those being held captive.  We stand together as community in support of Israel and of each other.  Our hearts ache as one for our family, our friends, our people.