Jewish congregations pray, grieve at synagogue services

Jews in communities far from Israel gathered at synagogues this weekend for Shabbat services held amid the ongoing war ignited by Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel a week earlier. 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 dredging 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 during a service at Temple Sinai. “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 urged an understanding that all people are connected, including Jews, Christians and Muslims.

“They are all our brothers and sisters, and when one of us hurts, we all hurt.”

In Washington, police cruisers with flashing lights parked outside during services at Adas Israel Congregation, a prominent Conservative synagogue. Rabbi Aaron Alexander reminded congregants that this week’s liturgy repeated the Hebrew refrain to “free the captives.” He evoked the Israelis held hostage and Palestinians trapped in Gaza.

At Temple Adas Israel in Sag Harbor, New York, Rabbi Daniel Geffen urged his congregation to stay strong and uphold the teachings of the Torah.

“I understand the anger. I share that anger. I don’t think I’ve been angrier,” Geffen said. “Tradition teaches us another way.”

As he spoke, Geffen dabbed away his tears with tissues. The rabbi, a pacifist, explained how that ideology was being tested by the attack.

It’s a “slippery slope of rage,” he said, and now is the time to unite behind Israel. “Do not abandon our people.”

In Los Angeles, Rabbi Nicole Guzik strongly denounced the Hamas attack and praised her Sinai Temple community for its resilience amid their heartbreak.

“You are showing Hamas — the bearers of evil, the champions of terror — that they will never break the Jewish spirit,” she said to applause from the 1,200 or so congregants.