GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP) — The Jewish community in Greensboro gathered Monday night in an effort to begin to process the atrocities committed by the terrorist group Hamas over recent days, rally in faith and share in their grief for all the Israeli lives lost.
People of the Jewish faith in the Triad gathered at the Greensboro Emanuel Temple to play music, sing, mourn and pray.
“We stand together on behalf of Israel,” Senior Rabbi Andy Koren said.
People prayed together in unison, holding hands as they recited prayers in Hebrew. Koren said emotions are high.
“We are also horrified at what happened, and our hearts go out to … all who are in the path of the harm that has been caused by Hamas and the terrorists,” Koren said.
Congresswoman Kathy Manning, a high-ranking member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, spoke at the prayer service and shared her anger.
“This was a horrific terrorist attack on a sovereign nation. These are terrorists who invaded Israel by land, air and sea and specifically targeted civilians,” Manning said.
She and other speakers said the magnitude of the attack cannot be understated.
“This, for Israel, is their 9/11,” Manning said.
The painful memories of attacks on Jewish people went back even further for a Holocaust survivor in attendance.
“I am a survivor of the Holocaust because when I was 14, I was taken to Auschwitz,” said Zev Harel of Greensboro.
Harel also served and fought for the independence of the Jewish state in the 1948 war.
He and many others at the prayer service hope for peace instead of more bloodshed.
“I hope that some sensible hope and understanding of what is right and wrong will make it better for everyone,” he said.
