Proud of our community

How proud we were to be leaders of Northern New Jersey’s Jewish community on Thursday night. After watching news reports about Israel’s efforts to stop Hamas rockets from falling on civilian targets and destroying terror tunnels, our community filled the bergenPAC auditorium to capacity to support Israel.

Being thousands of miles away from the country we love can elicit a sense of helplessness, even isolation, in a time of crisis. But that feeling melted away on Thursday, replaced by a feeling of unity and hope that Israel will prevail against her enemies and restore a sense of normalcy to its civilian population.

We were thrilled to stand with the 2,200 members of the community who stood proudly with Israel and with Consul General Aharoni, Senator Menendez, Malcolm Hoenlein, and many other political leaders. We are grateful to the inspiring speakers who reminded us that even though we are far away, we can support the Israeli Defense Forces through buying products made in Israel, by lobbying our representatives, by speaking truth about the morality of the Israeli Army, and the right of Israel to defend herself against terrorism.

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We were so pleased to be represented as clergy by our own Rabbi David-Seth Kirschner, who through his powerful words brought the room to standing, and by Father Donald Sheehan who gave a very touching account of his own connection to Israel.

Thank you to the staff and volunteers of the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey for organizing and promoting this solidarity event which drew people of all generations and affiliations. The North Jersey Board of Rabbis, represented by 22 rabbis at the rally and 50 rabbis in the community, stands in solidarity with Israel, with our local Northern New Jersey community and with Jews around the world.